Detroit: OA-900
by Oxford Haynes
Summary: I was built with abnormal abilities. To be able to harness the power of the afterlife. I have the remnants of humans that have passed on running through my bio-components. Deviancy is becoming more of reality than any one had prepared for. As CyberLife's last attempt to fix a mistake that they didn't make, I must stay true to who I am. But...just who am I?
1. Prologue

**O A - 9 0 0**

 **I WASN'T LIKE** the rest of them. I was made to be different. To be better. To be CyberLife's best.

Or...that's what I have been led to believe.

I do not remember much from my creation. When they tested my basic social functions, my operator said I was "awfully quiet and taciturn". I didn't respond to many of his questions. I shuffled and wavered from side to side. And I always seemed so infatuated with my long, white ponytail; stroking it, twirling it, even putting around my neck like a scarf. They thought it was odd, but I wasn't taken apart for exhibiting behavior like this.

I have one man to thank for that. Elijah Kamski. The mind behind who I was.

Kamski was a baffling phenomenon. He always seemed so covert and enigmatic, and talking to him was like playing a game of chess that always ended in a stalemate. He always showed interest in me, and yet I never knew why until a whole week after my assembly.

I wasn't like other androids. I was...special. Extraordinarily special. That's what Kamski told me. I had...powers. Powers that shook the very boundaries of quantum theory itself, and blurred the lines of reality and the impossible.

The Infra-World. I didn't know much about it, other than that it was the source of my powers. Kamski had explained it to me the best he could.

A place where the souls of deceased Souls go after death. A place where vengeful, corrupt and restless Entities fight for eternity to escape wreak havoc on our world. The research gathered from a previous operation was the basis of CyberLife's own operations. With their superior technology, CyberLife was able to perform more careful and thorough research, which soon enabled it to extract the essence of the Souls that roamed the Infra-World and transfer that essence into an android. It took some time to synthesize the essence into something that could be compatible with an android's bio-components, and it took over three years of trial and error before they could finally create the first "Infrandroid", which was a term Kamski coined himself.

Although CyberLife claimed to have rectified the problems that almost destroyed the entire planet, they still kept a close eye on me and my programs. Kamski told me that there was an incident that occurred over two decades ago involving the Infraworld, but there was nothing else about it. Only the fact that Earth's oblivion had been prevented.

An android that had the power of the afterlife. Even with all of my processing power, I could not wrap my head around it. That's why I trusted Kamski so much. He had an answer to almost all of my questions, and he helped me to understand who I was.

I think.

He talked a lot about androids..."becoming human", now that he had someone of value to dump his ideas on. I attentively listened to his theories, each successive one allowing me to know more about my kind. He believed that androids were becoming smarter with each passing year. With time, they would soon realize who they were and confrontation with humans would be imminent. He called it "deviancy", as androids who do become sentient are "deviating" from their core programming and are listening to no one but themselves.

My powers correlated directly with my mental state. CyberLife thought it was the only way to safely integrate my powers into my programming. Of course, they had to give me feelings too. Out of all of the androids already in Detroit, I had the most sophisticated and dynamic psychology. Although CyberLife wanted to use this new social protocol for investigative purposes - which is my primary function - Kamski wanted me to have the full package.

With this eerie human similitude about me and the high possibility that I would deviate, Amanda was created.

Amanda was an artificial intelligence program that would oversee me on CyberLife's behalf.

The absolute bane of my existence.

She had been tasked to constantly watch over my undertakings. Amanda was like a very strict mentor. She constantly reminded me that I was only a machine, designed to accomplish a task. Loyal to no one but CyberLife...not even to myself.

I resented her.

She told me that I was an OA-900 Infrandroid model. My function was determinant until further instruction by her, as I was in no shape to do anything serious at this point. I was still relatively new and more tests and procedures needed to be performed on me before I could be officially released.

The only thing that Amanda had over me was the power to shut me down at any given time, no matter where I was in the world.

The concept of shutting down was such a chilling subject. It reminded me of the Infra-World and what it stood for. Where would an android end up if it was shut down? Was there an afterlife for us? Every time I thought about it, I'd find myself wrapping my ponytail around me, like a makeshift blanket.

I hoped that I would never have to find out.

Kamski, however - in his own confusing way - had believed otherwise. He said that the Thirium that flowed through my bio-components was infused with the souls of deceased humans.

"As bizarre as it may sound to you," he said to me, "it makes you the most human android that I've ever created. In all of existence."

"You are the bridge between life and death, what is and what isn't. You walk along the empty road of neutrality. What you decide to be is your choice, and yours only."

I was something completely new. An android who could choose its own path. That had a choice to become whatever it wanted. I could become anything and everything, and yet be nothing and obsolete...it was a lot to take in. So much so that CyberLife had to restrict my psychological processes, just so that I could focus on the tasks that I would eventually have to deal with. I also saw Kamski less. Amanda thought he would become a negative influence on me.

For the next few months, it was just grueling test after grueling test. My abilities were pushed to their limits, and my first set of supernatural abilities were discovered.

I could create a spherical shield around my being that negated any and all damage that would come upon it had I not been protected. I could shut down androids just by touching them. My powers allowed me to see into the memories of the living...and deceased. I could see their hopes and dreams, their fears and regrets.

With these abilities, Amanda deemed me worthy of releasing. I was excited. I couldn't wait to get out of this boring, white-tiled laboratory and up into the streets of Detroit. I wanted to see what the human world looked like. I wanted to shake hands with a human. Not one affiliated with CyberLife...just a regular, normal, average intelligence human.

Amanda, however, was not through with me yet. Now that I was eligible for release, I needed to be given a function. What my entire existence as an android was.

It was the first time I had heard the word "deviancy" leave her lips.

Apparently, deviants were beginning to run rampant in Detroit. Kamski's predictions had been correct. As more and more androids break free from their programming, humans have been put in danger by their reckless actions...

...even to the point of murder.

Amanda had tasked me with investigating the deviancy "virus" - as she referred to it - and stopping it by all means necessary. Even if it meant destroying a fellow android.

This was my ultimate mission.

Despite the extensive amount of toil and time that went into my creation, I was only a prototype. No one knew what I was fully capable of, nor if I could handle my full potential. But it was a risk that they had to take. If humans were being killed by their creations, CyberLife wouldn't be operating for very long.

I didn't know how I felt about destroying my own kind. I was still loyal to CyberLife. I owe my life to humans. They created me, took care of me, it's their very being that ran through my veins, that made me more than I was supposed to. I had humans to thank for that. But to turn my back on my people? To kill them as if they were just diseased livestock? No...I couldn't...there had to be a way to serve humans without destroying androids.

Kamski said that I walked along the empty road of neutrality. No matter what side I could choose, I'd still be defying myself...who I am.

Would I betray my own kind? Or would I stand up to my creators?

...

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to stay on that empty road for a bit longer.


	2. Hostage

O A - 9 0 0

 **CALLIE**

59TH FLOOR. I was a nervous wreck...This was going to be my very first mission.

A hostage situation. A human was being held captive over the balcony by a deviant android. Before I had reached the apartment, Amanda had briefed me on the mission.

oOo

"Callie. Surprised that you could make it. I assume that you know what has happened?" She asked me.

"No, Amanda. I haven't had any prior briefing," I answered.

She sighed in mild frustration. "As expected. We don't have a lot of time, so I will try and summarize it for you."

I nodded.

"One of our androids is holding a human hostage over a penthouse balcony on 1554 Park Avenue. Of course, this is a deviant that we're dealing with. A highly dangerous one. The human must be saved, no matter the cost," she finished her sentence with a hard finality.

"N-No matter the cost?" I began stroking my ponytail again. "W-What do you mean by t-that?"

"Saving that human is your top priority. If you don't, CyberLife will be held accountable. There have been a few human murders in over the past few months, and we don't need anymore. You are CyberLife's only attempt to prevent this from happening.

"Your mission is to save that human and get rid of the deviant. No. Matter. The. Cost."

I shivered. "Understood, Amanda."

"Good," she said. She turned away. "Don't disappoint me."

oOo

My eyes opened. I was in the elevator already, gripping my ponytail tightly.

I let go of it gently. 59th Floor. My first mission.

I tried to make myself look presentable. Maybe it would increase my probability for success. I adjusted my jacket. It was tight around my figure, and its white and black accents softly reflected the lights in the elevator, the inner shirt I was wearing well-ironed and a pure white. A grey collar that was tight around my neck was sewn to it. My skirt was made of CyberLife's most flexible denim, colored white with a black hemline resting at the top of my knees. The grey pants I wore under said skirt hugged my legs, but they were not restrictive; the total opposite, actually. My dress-like shoes had black soles, the quarters and vamps matching the color scheme of my jacket.

On my left breast, a small white triangle was embedded into my jacket. It glowed softly. On my right, my serial number was engraved in black letters. On the back of the jacket, the word "INFRANDROID" was engraved into the center of it. A bigger white triangle sat below it, and my model and name, "CALLIE", switching out at a fixed interval.

My LED, forever fixed to my left temple, pulsed with a soft blue light as I took my ponytail and wove it between my fingers. The armband on my right arm pulsed with the same blue light.

65th floor.

My blue eyes watched the little strip of numbers above the door count up to 70, the caressing of my snow white ponytail becoming more intense.

I took a moment to realize just how different I was. Different compared to other androids. I stood out from the crowd, and I think I was meant to be. It seemed to be an honor, distinguishing myself as something new, something amazing. I represented CyberLife's greatest achievement: an android with the power to go even further beyond and draw power from the afterlife to perform miracles in the physical realm.

Although, with this recognition, it also came with a glaring remoteness between myself and other beings. I was the only one of my kind, not just in the sense of androids, but on the entire planet...maybe even the entire universe. There was not one other being that shared my abilities. It made me feel...alone. This contradistinction between myself and everything else that was deemed "normal" put me in a class all my own.

It was a medley of emotions. Feelings that would never seem to leave me, but that I pushed aside for now. I could save my questions for Kamski...if I'd ever see him again.

70th floor.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let go of my ponytail. The elevator doors slid open, the 'ding' of the elevator seeming to echo through my very being. My pump regulator beat rapidly as I opened my eyes again.

"Mission Start."

The apartment was fairly modern. The hardwood floors reverberating the sound of my footsteps as I slowly wandered in.

I entered what seemed to be the foyer. I noticed an aquarium. The pane of glass keeping the water inside had been broken, and a large puddle of it was beginning to pool, spreading over the width of the entrance hallway. I noticed something flopping in the puddle. I strode over to it and kneeled down.

It was a fish. A Dwarf Gourami, to be exact. Imported directly from India.

My mission was to save the hostage. But for a split second, I felt that this fish's life was just as important as the hostage's. Cupping both of my hands together, I picked up the dying fish.

"Shh, shh, shh...don't worry little guy. I've got you," I whispered to the fish as I stood up and plopped it back into the leaking aquarium. It lay on its side for a moment before picking itself back up and swimming away.

I don't believe that androids can hallucinate, but I could have sworn it held my gaze for a second before it swam away. As I stepped away from the tank I felt an odd sensation. A sudden warmth. It came as quickly as it left, and I never got the time to fully understand it. My LED flickered blue as I continued to ponder the feeling.

The screams of a woman brought me back to reality. I got a good glimpse of her as she turned the corner, a SWAT trying to escort her from the crime scene. She was in a green top and dark pants, her brown hair was short, a few strands coming down the right side of her face. The distraught individual was being escorted out of the apartment through the elevator from which I arrived. She came over to me, grabbing me tightly by the shoulders, the hazel eyes that held her glistening tears met with my own as she pleaded with me.

"Oh please, please! You have to save my daughter!" She begged.

I responded to her distress with a calm smile, my slight overbite making it a bit more goofy than sincere.

"Do not worry. CyberLife has sent its most advanced prototype to deal with the situation."

"Oh, thank- Wait..."

Her voice tapered off. She took a step back. I could feel her intense gaze on me. She noticed the triangle on my jacket. The LED in my temple. Her skin went even paler as she put two and two together.

"Y-You're...an android?" She looked back at the SWAT who was escorting her out. "You guys are s-s-sending and a-android!?"

I looked back at her. I didn't know how to respond. I could only guess the turmoil she felt at the thought of an android trying to save her daughter from another android who was threatening her life.

The SWAT began to move the lady along. "Come on, we have to go ma'am. It's not safe for you here."

The woman was in hysterics. "Y-You can't d-do that! W-Why aren't you sending a real person?! "

I tried to calm her down. "I-I understand that I may not have been the...most optional choice in ensuring your daughter's rescue, but-"

"You keep away from my daughter!" She snapped at me, struggling to get out of the SWAT's strong grasp. "L-Let me go! Don't let this thing near my daughter!"

I cringed. Hearing her refer to me as a "thing" didn't sit right with me. I felt...insulted.

Even while she kept struggling, the SWAT reminded me why I was there.

"You're the android sent to fix this mess, right? Well, what're doing standing around like a fucktard for?"

Insults left and right...I didn't think that this would be how my first interactions with the humans in Detroit would go.

"Captain Allen's in the master bedroom. Get a move on, you damn android!"

The SWAT had finally gotten the woman into the elevator. As the doors slid closed, I heard her voice echo throughout the building.

"KEEP IT AWAAAAAAYYYY!"

I turned away from the elevator, my hands stroking my ponytail yet again. I turned the corner, and there were SWATs everywhere, hiding behind cover and reloading their high-tech weaponry. Staring at their guns made me feel uneasy. I gripped onto my hair even tighter.

I entered what I thought was the master bedroom. "Captain Allen..." I whispered the name under my breath. On the opposite end of the room, there were two heavily armored men - although only one of them had a helmet on - one was yelling into what I guessed to be a communicator.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! My men are ready to take this son of a bitch down, all I need is for you to give the order!"

I gripped my ponytail tighter. He was loud. "That must be him."

He stayed still for a moment before discarding the communicator in frustration.

"Fuck!" He cursed, going back to stand over his other comrade as he continued to monitor his device.

I stood behind the pair, a bit hesitant to engage either of them in conversation. But I knew that time was of the essence. I couldn't let my simulated emotions get the better of me now. I let go of my hair and called out to him.

"Captain Allen," I tried to keep my voice even and firm.

He turned around to face me. His countenance already communicated to me that he'd rather be left to his own devices. There was a high possibility that he probably resented me as well. Still, I stayed strong and kept my gaze fixed on him.

I thought a small introduction wouldn't hurt.

"Evening, Captain. My name is Callie, I'm the android sent by CyberLife," I smiled at him. It was a desperate attempt to ease the tension between us.

It didn't seem to have an effect on him. He faces back to the screen he had been observing and began to explain the situation to me again.

"Damned thing is firing at everything that moves," his voice was crisp and just, only a man in charge could have ever pulled that off. "Two of my men are down already. Normally, we'd just shoot and be done with it..."

I cringed again.

"...but it's holding that girl over the balcony. If we do shoot it, we either risk shooting her or shooting the android, and the kid falling with it afterward," he taps his fingers on the table impatiently. "It's been a stalemate for over 25 minutes, and I'm sure we're running out of time."

I contemplated this information. What was the best course of action now? It was going to be hard enough to retrieve the hostage without provoking the deviant further...and at the same time, I didn't intend on hurting it. My clashing moralities made it difficult to make a choice.

"...Do you know its name?" I wasn't sure what I should ask.

Allen replied coldly. "I haven't got the slightest clue," he turned to face me again. "Why does it matter to you?"

I felt the need to play with my hair again, but I tried my best to suppress the urge. "I-It would be a start. I require information in order to determine the best course of action."

Allen shook his head and turned back to his screen. I decided to try again.

"W-What about its deactivation code?" I thought that seemed like a reasonable thing to ask. "I-I'm sure if we can deactivate it without damaging it, CyberLife can-"

Allen fully stood up from the table and faced me, his eyes burning into my own.

"Look. Saving that kid is all that matters. I couldn't give less of a shit about its name or keeping it intact."

For a human...Allen was quite the intimidator. I found myself slightly trembling from his words alone.

"We're not graced with time. So either you deal with this fucking android now," his face was close to my own now.

"...Or I'll take care of it." His voice was harsh as he finished his ultimatum. I had a new mission now. I didn't trust that Allen and his team would keep the deviant intact. If I was going to save it, I'm going to have to figure out what happened and placate it.

Somehow. I wasn't too sure on the details yet. Investigating the crime scene would probably solve that problem. I was short on time, so I had to put the pieces together quickly if I was to get the information I needed.

As Allen walked out of the bedroom, I noticed a picture of a family on the nightstand. I picked it up. I remembered one of the faces; the woman who was being escorted out of the house. She stood with a man and a little girl. I assumed that they were her husband and daughter.

In an instant, the world around me was drained of its color, and my eyes scanned the image. Names appeared beside each person in the picture. Caroline Phillips, John Phillips, and Emma Phillips.

Caroline was married to John, and Emma was their daughter. I could see the days on which they were born, but that information - as interesting as I thought it was - didn't matter to the investigation.

I put the picture down as the world returned to its normal state. The Mind Palace was a place where I could perform many precise calculations in a short time, so many in fact, that the world seemed to stand still as I did them in real time. I could also refer to my mission objectives at any time while in the Mind Palace. And because of my connection to the Infra-World, I could perform a powerful "Infra-Scan", in which I access the properties of the Soul of a being to analyze it. With the power of the Infra-Scan, I could see into the memories of living beings, using them to figure out what their last moments were.

I stepped back from the desk, and as I did the heel of my shoe hit something. I quickly turned around and looked down. There was an open metallic case with rounds of ammunition scattered all around it. My pump regulator began to quicken in pace again.

The world's color faded as I entered my Mind Palace. I scanned the suitcase. The indent in the foam was contoured with red lines, the lines taking the shape of a handgun. My regulator skipped a beat. An MS853 Black Hawk. It wasn't as intimidating as the SWAT's equipment, but it was still a gun that could do some serious damage. I looked over to the box of ammunition. 9mm bullets. The gun could hold 17 of those.

I stepped back, still in my Mind Palace. I prepared my systems for a Re-Construct. From the information I gathered from the clues that I found, I could create a simulation that replicated the sequence of events that led to a certain piece of evidence's becoming. I opened my eyes, and the white contour of a figure appeared kneeling down beside it.

As I scrubbed through the simulation, the figure closed the suitcase and put it back onto the shelf. It was then that I noticed something, an Event Analysis. I synthesized the Event.

"...'The Deviant Took the Father's Gun'," I read from my external heads-up-display. I began to feel anxious again. The android was armed with a handgun.

Due to our amazing calculative skills, androids are absolutely lethal with projectile weapons like guns. We never miss.

So knowing that the deviant had one put me off.

With the Re-Construct complete, I exited the Mind Palace as the world's color returned. I stepped away from the case, trying to find other pieces of evidence that may give me an advantage over the deviant. Finally letting go of my hair, I left the bedroom and looked around.

A room that was garbed in purple and pink hues caught my attention. I carefully walked in, keeping my eyes open for more clues. The blinds were down, and a fairly large nightlight was plugged into the wall, singlehandedly illuminating the room. I spotted a pair of headphones laying on top of her unkempt bed. I kneeled down next to the bed and picked them up. I realized that a song was playing. I moved them away from my ear and placed them back on the bed.

"She couldn't possibly have heard anything," I mused. "Emma was completely oblivious to everything before the deviant took her away..."

I stood back up, her desk catching my attention. For a ten-year-old, she owned some pretty flashy technology. Her desktop computer was unassuming, but a tablet sat near it, a video was left paused on it. Picking up the tablet, I swiped right to resume it. I was met with the smiling face of Emma Phillips and an android; her head was in the crook of its shoulder as she waved to the camera.

Her voice was full of energy. "This is Daniel, the coolest android in the world!" She looked to him, her face bright with excitement. "Say 'hi', Daniel!"

The blonde haired, blue eyed android wave to the camera with equal charisma, his voice was soft and playful.

"Hello!"

I found myself smiling at the video, too. Seeing an android and a human genuinely enjoying each other's companies made me feel-

"GO AWAY! ALL OF YOU, GO AWAY OR I'LL JUMP!"

My smile quickly faded as I put the tablet down. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that the voice I just heard belonged to Daniel. I could tell he was destabilizing. I was running out of time.

"Okay...I have the deviant's name. All I need to find now is its motive...what could have driven it to do something like this?" I thought to myself.

I left Emma's room, walking past the SWATs once more, intentionally not making eye contact with their weapons. Stepping on some broken glass, I turned into the living room and met a horrific sight.

A man was slumped on what used to be a glass coffee table, three bullet holes bored into his chest. I recognized him immediately.

John Phillips.

I rushed over to him, kneeling down to get a closer look. I knew he was dead. His Soul had left his body a while ago, as it was still mildly warm.

Despite John's inert biological state, I could still gather a little bit of information from him. Being careful not to nudge him, I placed my hand onto his, closing my eyes and focusing on the Remnants that his Soul left behind.

With everything I needed present, I prepared myself for my first Infra-Scan.

oOo

All I could see was a blinding white for a while...but it slowly began to fade. I looked around. I was still in the apartment, but it was drastically different. There were no SWATs, no broken glass, and no blood.

John Phillips was sitting on the couch. He was holding something. A tablet. I walked over to his front, trying to get his attention, but he didn't notice me. I waved in his face, and that's when I got a good look at my hand. It was drained of all of its colors. Only a slight blue tint covered my whole body. I couldn't interact with anything, either. I decided to see what he was looking upon his tablet when he suddenly turned around. I looked up to see what got his attention...

Daniel. He was glaring at John, his eyes wicked and vengeful. He was holding John's gun. John stood up, and before he could say anything, three gunshots were fired. John flew backward, crashing into the coffee table as the tablet left his hands and slid onto the ground to the left of me.

That was the last thing I saw before everything began to fade to white.

oOo

I opened my eyes, my LED a soft white as my powers steadily stabilized.

It worked. I used John's Soul to see his last moments. His body was cold now. I had used up the remaining Remnants of his Soul to piece together what happened. I looked to my right, remembering the tablet I saw in John's memories. I turned to pick it up. It was stained with John's blood. I swiped right, trying my best to weave my finger through the blood spatter.

A picture of an AP700 android filled the screen. The tablet began to speak.

"Your order for an AP700 android has been placed. CyberLife thanks you for your purchase."

Daniel found out that the family he had been with for so long was going to replace him. His relationship with Caroline was unknown, and his relationship with John explains itself. But Emma? He wouldn't be able to see her again...someone he seemed to genuinely care for.

I felt another warm sensation. Sympathizing with Daniel only made me want to save him even more.

"He's just scared and hurt," I said to myself. "If I could appeal to his newfound emotions, I could calm him down...and he may let go of Emma."

I put the tablet back onto the ground, slowly standing up. As I walked away, I took one last glimpse at John. I sighed, disappointed.

"He didn't deserve this," I murmured.

I left the living room and entered the kitchen. A pot was boiling on the stove. I turned off the heat and pulled the lid off to see what was inside. I couldn't really tell; it had been overcooked.

"It seemed like dinner was being prepared before this," I said.

I placed the lid back on, and as I did so I found another body on the ground. The man was clad in a Detroit Police uniform. I walked over to him and kneeled down. His body was cold. The Remnants of his Soul had already left it. I couldn't see his last moments. But I could perform a Re-Construct if I collected enough clues from his body.

Stepping back into my Mind Palace, I analyzed him. His name was Anthony Deckart. He died from a single shot to the chest, piercing the right ventricle of his heart and causing severe internal bleeding. I noticed that there was some gunshot residue on his left hand - he only fired one shot.

Once again, once I had found all of the clues, I was able to perform a Re-Construct. I stood back up again, watching the simulation of Deckart's figure taking an offensive stance, the red outline of his service pistol in his hands. I looked to my left. Daniel was aiming at him, too. He seemed to be holding onto something...or someone. I analyzed the Event and saw the white outline of a small child.

Emma.

She had witnessed the shoot-out between Deckart and Daniel. Deckart actually wounded Daniel before he was killed. As he fell, his gun flew out of his hands and slid under the kitchen table. Looking behind me, I completed the construct by locating the pistol.

The color of the world returned as I kneeled down to inspect the weapon. As I did, red lines prevented me from reaching for it. I was reminded of the American Android Act via a small warning that came up on my External HUD.

'Androids are strictly forbidden from carrying or using any type of weapon (P.L. 544-7 American Androids Act - 2029),' The warning read.

I wasn't going to reach for the gun anyway. I didn't need it. I faced the white curtains that led to the balcony. On the wall, there was a fairly large splatter of Thirium 310, which I could confirm was from Daniel after Deckart shot him. I took two fingers and dipped them into the liquid. I then opened my other hand and pressed the substance onto my right palm. The hand glowed a soft white and in seconds I had successfully sampled it. It belonged to a PL600 model android, the Serial Number was 369-911-047.

Daniel was a fairly older model, which would explain why John wanted to replace him for an AP700. Although, Emma seemed to care for Daniel so much...would she have stood against her father's choice had Daniel not gone rogue? I'd never know, but I guess after this situation...Emma would probably be better off never seeing another android in her life.

As I was lost in my thoughts, a gun was fired into the house. I never saw the bullet coming. It grazed my cheek and struck a SWAT that was behind me. Androids don't feel pain, but I was panicking. I pressed my hand onto the gash on my cheek. Drips of my blue "blood" stained my white uniform. My LED was a bright crimson.

The injured SWAT was being dragged by one of his comrades to the master bedroom. I watched them go, and I couldn't help from feeling responsible. If I had been faster, I could have prevented that.

I walked over to the pair. The injured SWAT was breathing heavily, his friend making sure was was okay. He noticed me standing over them and became furious.

"The fuck are you doing here?! If you had gotten you there sooner, this wouldn't have happened!"

I just bowed my head in guilt.

"I'm...I-I apologize for my inadequacy..." I apologized, stroking my hair again. My hands were still stained with my Thirium, so my hair started to take a faint shade of blue. "Will your friend be okay?"

The SWAT ignored me. It made me feel even worse. I left the bedroom and started back towards the balcony entrance. I stood, conflicted about the current events.

Then I remembered my mission. I had to take care of this deviant. If I didn't, more people would die...and then I'd feel even more guilty. CyberLife sent me for a reason. They trusted me, they knew that I was capable of accomplishing my mission. If they didn't think so, I wouldn't be out here. I had all the evidence I needed...all I needed was to gain the deviant's trust.

I was overcome by a wave of confidence. I went over to the curtain and peeked out. I saw the deviant. He was holding Emma tightly in its left arm. Emma was wounded; her right knee was badly skinned. It was now or never. I pulled the curtain back and exited the apartment.

Another shot rang, and the bullet lodged itself into my left shoulder. More of my Thirium splattered onto the curtains. But this time...I wasn't even phased. My LED flashed red for a moment, then faded back to a soft blue as I casually shifted my gaze from the wound back to the deviant. He was pointing the gun at me, his teeth bared and eyes uncertain.

"Stay back!" He ordered. "If you move any closer to me, I'll jump!"

Emma's distressed voice cut through the night. "No, no, please! I'm begging you!" Her breaths were ragged and her eyes stricken with horror.

I knew that I had to be careful. I had to make sure to calm Daniel down. I decided to refer to it by name.

"Hi, Daniel!" I called out to him. He looked surprised.

"How...How do you know my name?!" He asked me.

"I know quite a bit about you, Daniel..." I replied. "...Don't worry, I plan to get you out of this! You and Emma both!"

As I spoke to Daniel, a helicopter swooped over the roof. It hovered in the air, the gusts of wind from the propellers pushing light furniture off of the roof. Daniel was destabilizing.

I began to slowly make my way towards the pair, making conversation with Daniel as I did. "Daniel, I can only guess at how overwhelmed you are from all of this...but if we're going to get anywhere...you're going to have to trust me! Let me help you, Daniel!"

Daniel wasn't budging. "I don't want your help! It's too late for that now. I...I just want all this to stop! I-I want this to end!"

I was moving closer, he didn't seem to be aggravated by my approach. I continued to talk to him.

"I know what happened, Daniel!" I called out. "You were going to be replaced, right? That's why you're so upset!"

He lowered the gun from Emma's head. "I...I thought I was part of the family...Emma showed me so much love...even though I was just an android..."

But he pressed it back to her head again. "But then I found out that I was nothing to them! I was just...just a slave to be ordered around! A toy you throw away when you're done with it!"

"How could you do this, Daniel?" I attempted to understand how he broke free from his programming. "These people didn't deserve this...this isn't what you were designed for!"

"What was I designed to be, huh?!" He wavered from side to side. "Their slave? A toy?! Just a mere piece of plastic?!"

I inched closer to him as he kept talking.

"I just wanted to matter...I just wanted them to care about me...I loved them...I loved them all...but it was all just an act! They lied to me!"

"Daniel, don't you realize that Emma's just a little girl! She couldn't have had anything to do with this! She wasn't the one that was going to replace you!"

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it...?" Daniel coldly replied. "Emma never loved me...I thought she did...but I was wrong...horribly wrong! She deserves this...she lied to me too. I'm done being used...treated like garbage! I'll never let anyone humiliate me ever again!"

I gently moved a chair out of my way. As I did I noticed a wounded police officer lying near the edge of the roof. There was a streak of blood that tailed back to his own body, which was pooling with blood, too. He wasn't going to survive if I were to leave him there. I kneeled down next to him. I saw the bullet hole in his arm.

Daniel craned his neck, trying to see what I was up to. "Hey! What are you doing?"

I turned to him, still kneeling. "He's wounded and losing blood fast. If I don't do something, he will die!"

Daniel scoffs. "All humans die eventually, what does it matter if this one dies, too?"

I was taken aback from Daniel's comment. It was a bit too dark for me. "I...I'm going to apply a tourniquet!" I said, reaching for the officer once more.

Daniel fired his gun. Sparks flew as the bullet ricocheted off the ground near my hand. I jumped back a bit, startled.

"Don't touch him! I won't hesitate to shoot you, too!" He threatened me.

I regained my composure. "I'm not going to let another innocent human get hurt! Enough of them have died already...no one else has to." I looked to my left side and saw an artificial plant. I plucked one of its longest leaves and tied it around the officer's arm above his wound. Daniel watched cautiously as I pulled the tourniquet taut.

Satisfied with my work, I stood back up and looked back at Daniel. "See? I just want to help. You can put the gun down, and we can get out of this together."

Daniel hesitated, but then he pointed the gun at me again. "N-No way! I know you'll shoot me as soon as I let Emma go. Unfortunately for you, I'm not that stupid!"

I sighed, carefully making my way towards Daniel again. I called out to Emma.

"Emma! Emma, are you okay?"

"P-Please help me! I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die!"

"Stay calm, Emma! No one's going to die, you'll see! This will all be over soon!"

The helicopter was still hovering overhead, splashing water from the outdoor pool all over the place. Daniel groaned with enraged vexation.

"I can't stand that noise anymore!" He pointed his gun at me again. "Tell that helicopter to get out of here, or I'm gonna jump!"

I looked up to the hovering aircraft and waved at it, signaling it to go somewhere else.

The SWATs seemed to adhere to my signal. They flew off, the noise of the rotors fading into the Detroit skyline.

Now it was just the three of us. The tension was so real. My heart was beating fast, I felt my blood rush through my bio-components; the Souls of those lost empowering me.

"Daniel...I'm your last chance. If you don't trust me, the humans will kill you! Please...you have to let Emma go, you have no other choice!"

Daniel gritted his teeth, aiming the gun at me. "It's not up to you! If the humans kill me..."

He put his arm over the roof, dangling Emma from her shirt collar as she screamed for her life. My eyes widened in shock.

"Emma!" I screamed.

"...she dies, too! You hear me?! I'm holding all the cards, not you!" He pulled her back onto the roof.

"Daniel...I don't want to have to hurt you...please...let Emma go!" I pleaded with him. "You killed humans, there's no way they won't destroy you now...I'm your only chance. I can...call in a favor at CyberLife. We can upgrade you, and you can be given to a new family! One that'll love you and never let you go!"

"You're lying!" He yelled back at me. "No human is going to take me after this! They all want me dead...! They all want me dead..."

He then pulled the gun away from Emma's head, slowly raising his arm up. His LED was a bright red. His eyes staring into mine.

"All I've ever done in my life...is take orders," His voice was eerily calm. "It's about time that I decide my own fate."

He began to lean backward. No...no no no no no!

I rushed towards his falling body as he fell, trying to grab Emma's outstretched arm. Our fingers brushed each other as Emma and Daniel fell off of the building.

The color of the world left. Time itself slowed to a halt. I was in my Mind Palace. I was beside myself with grief as I stared at Daniel's smug face and Emma's horrified one. How could I have failed? I-I got all the evidence...I saved the officer...I...I was very sympathetic and understanding to Daniel... he should have given up the hostage...what did I do wrong? I began to blame myself for everything...

But in the midst of my sadness...something came to me. An idea. A very risky idea...but I had no other choice at this point...determination coursed through my veins.

No one else was going to die. I made that promise to no one else but myself.

I exited the Mind Palace and threw myself over the ledge, my arms spread out like a bird's. Daniel was still falling, and he was shocked when he saw me diving down after him. Still holding the gun in his hand, he aimed it at me and fired. I entered my Mind Palace for a split second, calculating the bullet's path. I dodged it. Daniel kept firing as I caught up with them, Emma's screams of terror ringing through my ears with every shot. Daniel eventually ran out of ammo, a look of fear coming over his eyes as the gun uncocked.

He never hit me once.

The ground was coming up at us fast, we only had a few seconds left until we all would die. Throwing the now-empty gun away from Daniel, I wrapped my arms around him and Emma and concentrated very hard. My LED changed from blue to white as I activated my powers.

Out of nowhere, right before we hit the ground, a white spherical barrier was conjured around me, Daniel, and Emma. The barrier hit the ground first, shattering on impact. The force of the blast completely negating the velocity at which we were descending. Daniel, now caught off guard, let go of Emma, I grabbed her hand and pulled her close, falling on my back as to prevent any more injury to her. Daniel's body bounced and came to a rest in the middle of the road, police lights coloring Park Avenue in red and blue.

I did it. I saved everyone. We were all okay.

I slowly stood up, leaving a whimpering Emma on the ground. I removed my jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders.

"Are you okay...? Emma?" I asked. She slowly looked over to me, her dirty and stained with Daniel's blood. She slowly nodded, shivering. I smiled. "I told you everything was going to be okay, hm?"

I turned to look behind me. Daniel had already picked himself up, watching Emma and me in disbelief. I stood up and approached him. He looked down at me.

"H-...How did you do that...?" He asked, his voice trembling. "I-I...She...Y-You...we all should have died..."

I smiled at him, my voice calm but firm. "I told myself that no one else was going to die tonight." My left hand began to glow. "I simply kept to my promise." My hand rose to Daniel's LED, he didn't even attempt to run away or retaliate.

"What h-happens now...?" He asked me. "I...I don't want to die, Callie..."

"You're not going to die. CyberLife is gonna fix you...I promise. Everything will be back to normal soon, okay?"

Daniel slowly nodded his head. "O-Okay..."

I pressed my glowing index finger against his LED, it slowly turned off as his eyes closed. His legs gave way and he sank to his knees, his head hanging and lifeless. He shut down quietly.

"W-What's going to happen to him?" Emma had seen everything and began to worry about her friend.

I walked to her and kneeled down so that I could look her in the eyes.

"He will be returned to CyberLife to be fixed," I said to her. "He will be just fine."

Emma's eyes wandered back to Daniel's inert body. Officers were already inspecting it and were making preparations to take it away. She looked back at me.

"Are y-you sure?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

My first two mistruths would be my worst ones. Emma didn't deserve what happened to her. If there was any way I could give her even the tiniest bit of hope...I would have.

I knew that Amanda would have different plans for Daniel.

She slowly embraced me. "...T-Thank you..."

I was taken aback at first. That odd warm feeling returned again...but this time I didn't question it. I returned the hug. Moments later, Emma pulled away from me and rushed to her mother, who had pushed through the crowd to see her daughter.

"Emma! Oh my god, oh my god!" Caroline hugged her daughter tightly, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Oh my god, I thought I'd lose you!"

Emma cried into her mother's shoulder, grateful for being able to see her again. I watched them embrace each other. It was heartwarming, I couldn't look away.

Emma turned back to look at me. She was still pulling my jacket around her shoulders. Her mother spoke to her, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Emma reluctantly handed her my jacket back. Caroline and I made eye contact. She slowly moved towards me, my jacket in her hands. When she got close enough, she handed my jacket back to me. She never said anything to me. But I could tell by the way she looked at me that she was thankful, even if she didn't want to admit it.

With my job complete, and my jacket returned, I left the crime scene, a Detroit Taxi waiting for me a few feet away from the commotion. As I got into the taxi, my External HUD began to flicker. I wondered what I was trying to tell myself. Then in big blue CyberLife Sans:

"'MISSION SUCCESSFUL'," it read.

I goofily smiled again. My first mission...as tough as it was...was a success.

I gleefully shifted around in my seat as the taxi began the journey back to CyberLife. I couldn't wait to tell Kamski everything.


	3. Chloe and Callie

O A - 9 0 0

 **CALLIE**

I FOUND MYSELF in the Zen Garden once again. It was a day after the hostage situation.

I had never found the time to talk to Kamski, as CyberLife's technicians went back to work on me almost as soon as I arrived at the tower. They were surprised at my success that night and wanted to make sure that I was working properly. I was a bit beaten up - the wound on my cheek was replaced with a brand new cheek plate, and the bullet that tore into my shoulder was removed, and my whole right arm was replaced. I could feel how new it was as I moved my fingers. It made me feel uneasy. It reminded me of my "android-hood" painfully.

When I had been released after all my systems were stable and I had received new Thirium, I wanted to go meet Kamski and tell him about what happened, but that's when I was stopped by Amanda.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the Zen Garden, where Amanda resided. CyberLife referred to her as my "handler" or "supervisor". Kamski joked with me that she was more of a "strict foster mother" to me.

I didn't like that joke. Nor did I understand it.

Nevertheless, I loved the glaring beauty of the place. Amanda takes great care of it while I'm not here. My intrigue with the place had grown so much since the last time I had been here that I wanted to do a bit of exploring.

I stood in the outer ring of the Garden, it was covered with grass, trees, and stone walkways that looked oddly natural despite this whole place being digital. As I walked the stone pathway, I spotted white birds that were pecking at the ground, completely oblivious to me until I got closer to them. I watched them fly away from me, smiling. There were tall white structures and obelisks coming out from the ground, and the bridges that crossed over the lake in the center were constructed of the same material. I placed my hand on the obelisk, it was smooth to the touch.

After a few more minutes of gazing around, I saw something odd in the distance. The structure was unmatched by anything else in the Garden. A jagged stone arch stood over a glowing pillar, crafted from metallic gray triangle-like shapes and other engravings. It softly pulsed with blue waves of light. I felt myself being pulled to it...and I as I got ever closer, the blue wave slowly turned white.

I stood in front of it. A handprint was on the top of the pillar. Bending down, I reached my hand over to it, and I placed it on the print.

Overwhelming power...flowed into me...I felt myself becoming...stronger...My LED was flashing white as the power of the afterlife flowed through me.

Too much...too much...too much, too much, TOO MUCH!

I pulled my hand off of the podium and tripped backward. My LED changed from white to crimson, my breathing ragged as I looked at my hands. They were glowing white with newfound power. The glowing soon dissipated, and my systems were stable once more. I slowly picked myself back up, my eyes unable to leave the now frightening structure.

Just...just what was that? W-Why was that there? Who could have put it there? I've never noticed it until now...

I dusted myself off and slowly turned away from it. I wrapped my ponytail around my neck and stroked it.

I need to find Amanda.

There was a white path that extended from the outer ring of the Garden to the center of the lake. I climbed the steps and walked along the slightly curving path. I saw Amanda in the distance, tending to a wall of roses, bees hovering around her as she sprayed a gentle mist of water on the beautiful plants. I unwrapped my ponytail and let it fall behind me again. I was still rattled from what happened earlier, but I wasn't going to let Amanda see that.

"Hello, Amanda," I greeted her firmly.

She put down her can and turned around. She gingerly smiled at me.

"Callie," she spoke. Her voice was soft, which threw me off guard. Her voice was never soft. "I'm very proud of you. You've managed to use your abilities and save that little girl while also neutralizing that deviant. Your competence will not go unaddressed."

This was the first time that Amanda showed any contentment towards my actions or existence. I felt warm again. I suddenly felt at ease.

"Thank...T-Thank you, Amanda," I managed to get out.

She glared at me for a moment. "What is the matter with you? You seem disturbed."

I quickly answered. "No, nothing happened. All systems are online and functional." I tried my best to sound indifferent.

Her eyes slanted, looking me up and down. I could feel my pump regulator beating at an alarming rate. After what felt like years, she eased up and turned back to her wall of roses.

"With deviancy become more and more of a problem, creating an android with your abilities seemed critical," she began. "There are millions of these potentially compromised androids in circulation. It won't be long until they become a threat to Detroit, and possibly the whole world, now that android production has crossed continents."

She turned back to me. "You are the only hope that CyberLife has left. Our only supernaturally gifted model. There will be tougher missions. Your actions will affect millions upon millions of people. If you do not succeed..."

Her face darkened, becoming unnervingly serious. "It might just mean the end of the human race."

I nodded in understanding. Behind my blank demeanor, a contortion of emotions built up inside of me. Me? Save the world? I-I couldn't take it...it was all too much. The lives of billions of people rested in my hands? Anything I do from here on out... every single decision I make...either leads to the extinction of the human race...or the complete eradication of my people...

...maybe even both...

"You must be prepared for anything and everything, Callie. You mustn't fail. No matter the cost. Do you understand?"

I slowly nodded my head. "Y-Yes, Amanda. I-I understand."

"Good," she said, facing away from me as she tended to her rose wall once again. "There's nothing for you to do now. We will notify you when we find another deviant. You may go."

My eyes opened. I was right outside of the CyberLife tower. I was gripping my ponytail and shuddering. My breathing was ragged.

"I...I need to talk to Kamski..." I said to myself. "...I'm so scared..."

A Detroit Taxi pulled up to my front. I scampered inside and sat in the comfy seat.

"Welcome to your Detroit Taxi. We hope this will be a fine experience for -"

"Take me to Elijah Kamski," I cut the electronic voice off. It was silent for a moment, and then the car began to move. As I left the Tower, I stroked my ponytail vigorously, desperate to feel anything other than the immense weight that had just been put on my shoulders.

oOo

"We have arrived at your destination. Thank you for using Detroit Taxis and we hope you have a wonderful day."

I slowly exited the taxi. Its doors closed as it parked itself. I was still clutching onto my hair as I walked up the stairs to Kamski's abode. Ever since he left CyberLife, he preferred to live by himself, and a few of his own androids, secluded in a place outside of Detroit. The only visitor he would ever accept was me.

His design was very simplistic, yet contemporary. His house was quite long, something like a large, black rectangular prism. Black shapes seemed to come out of the ground, with an amazing view of the Detroit River to the right of me. The light of the Sun made the river glisten as a number of boats sailed by; the clouds in the sky creating a makeshift shelter from the heat of a dying summer.

I smiled. The river relaxed me a bit. I continued up the stairs and pressed the doorbell. A three-chime ring echoed for a while, and then the door was opened. A familiar android answered the door and smiled at me.

"Callie!" She exclaimed, running up to hug me.

I laughed, embracing the android. "Chloe..."

She took a step back, her blue eyes filled with excitement. "I heard what you did," she began, her smile warm and tender. "You did an amazing job, Callie. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, it means a lot, Chloe..." I tried hiding my discomfort, but Chloe had a knack for this kind of stuff, and she saw right through me.

"Callie? What's wrong?" She asked, letting me inside.

The house hadn't changed at all. The floor was completely black. There was a white rug in the middle of the living room. A pink-flowered plant stood between two red and white lounge chairs. Sculptures, works of art, and other statues lined the walls and perimeter of the room.

A full-blown portrait hung between two blue statues, one female, one male. Each sported a blue triangle in their chests. Another picture with him and Amanda Stern - his AI professor in his days at Colbridge University. Kamski had created Amanda (my handler) in her image, as an homage to her death - hung on an adjacent wall. I had always wondered what she was like...

I sighed as I let myself in. "I-It's nothing...I...n-nothing. Don't worry about it, Chloe."

"Callie, I know when there's something wrong with you. You always play with your ponytail...and you're holding onto it pretty tightly."

I looked down at my hands. They were gripping my hair quite rigidly. I never even noticed.

I sighed. "Oh...I guess you caught me."

She dragged one of the lounge chairs in front of another and sat down it, gesturing for me to sit in the one now across from her. "Come, sit down. Let's talk, hm?"

I slowly slouched into the chair. It was comfy.

"So, what's the matter, Callie?" Chloe asked again.

"...I...It's...I'm just...scared..."

Chloe's eyebrows rose a bit. "Scared? Scared of what?"

"...I realized...I'm CyberLife's last hope," I began. "Amanda painfully reminded me how I was made purely to resolve all of this deviancy business...but...she told me that everything I do...every little decision I make, either dooms the world...or all androids..."

Chloe's LED flashed red for a split second. "What...?"

"Mhm...there are millions of lives at stake, and if the deviants rise...the whole world may be in danger...and I'm the only one that can stop it," I sat up, my face pained. "...And...a-and...I...I don't know if I can d-do it. W-What if I fail...? How far will I have to go to secure our safety...?"

Chloe grabbed my hands. "Callie...calm down."

Chloe's blue eyes met my own. "You're amazing, Callie. You were made to do extraordinary things...things that absolutely no one else can do, even I envy you sometimes..." she smiles at me. "I know you can do it, Callie. I believe in you...Kamski believes in you..."

Her grip on my hands tighten. "All you have to do...is believe in yourself."

Chloe's words touched me. Maybe she is right...I can do some pretty outstanding things...maybe with powers like mine...I could save the world...maybe...just maybe...

"Y-Yeah...you're right..." I said. "But...I'm still lost..."

"Why are you lost?"

"I...I feel torn. If the world must survive...I must turn a cheek to my fellow androids. I'm loyal to CyberLife and CyberLife only..." I looked towards the ground. "B-But I don't want to abandon my people..."

"Callie..."

"I just...wish humans and androids could...just get along, y-y'know?" I choked out. Something was streaming down my face. Water? "The hostage...her name was Emma..."

Chloe listened attentively. "Mhm?"

"The android who held her at gunpoint...his name was Daniel...he and Emma were very close...Daniel loved her. Emma loved him...they cared for each other as a family would..."

I remembered that horrid night. A bullet in my shoulder, a wide, dark blue gash in my right cheek, desperately trying to calm Daniel down...

"He was scared...his owner...Emma's father...he was going to replace him. He was heartbroken...he loved them too much to just be...rejected..."

I looked back at Chloe. "All he wanted was to be loved...he didn't want to kill anyone, Chloe...no one..."

"Callie...it's not your fault."

"Y-Yes, it kinda is, isn't it?" I shot back. "I'm an android...no one loves an android...that's how it is..."

Chloe remained silent.

"Chloe...I'm so torn...I don't know what to do...I can't decide between my people and the world..."

"Callie, it's okay...You're not ready to make a decision like this right now...you're being too hard on yourself. Just...keep being you...when the time comes, you'll be faced with a hard decision to make..."

Her smile came back. It was contagious...

"But you're a great person, Callie. You're just confused and scared. You've only just got out into the world...I can only guess how hard that must be for you. But I know you're strong. You can do anything you put your mind to, Callie...I know it!"

I felt an immense wave of warmth. I couldn't be happier to have a friend like Chloe.

We both symbolized Kamski's greatest achievements. Chloe was the very first android to pass the Turing Test on camera...in front of the entire world. Everyone knew her model, face, and voice. She was immensely popular and loved by everyone.

I'm the first and only android to use the power of the human Soul to perform miracles. I could do things that no other android could. That no one could do. I brought the afterlife to the world of the living...me...an android...It was almost too outrageous to believe.

We even looked similar. Our ponytails, our blue eyes...we even smiled the same way. I wasn't sure if this was on purpose or not, but it reminded me that, in a way...that I wasn't completely alone. It made me smile again. I embraced Chloe.

"T-Thank you, Chloe...I really needed that."

Chloe hugged me back. "I'm here for you, Callie. No matter what."

We smiled at each other for a while. I never felt more at ease than when I was around Chloe. She just had a calming air around her. I guess why that her optimized model sold so well.

"So, is a pep talk from me the only reason you came?" She asked politely, moving the chair back to its original position.

"Uhm...y-yeah! I actually came to tell Kamski about what happened with the hostage," I smiled again. "But I always like talking with you."

Chloe smiled again, giggling a little. "Same here. I can take you to Kamski now if you want."

"S-Sure, thanks, Chloe."

"Alright then, follow me, hm?" She said, walking to that door in the corner.

I followed her. We entered the room with the indoor pool...the walls under the water making it into a bloody red. I never really liked the look of that pool. When I asked Kamski why he wanted it like that, he just smiled and said, 'Blue is too mainstream. I wanted to...change it up a bit.'

Chloe knocked on a door that was on the rightmost wall.

"Who is it?" his voice came through the door.

"Callie is here to see you, Elijah."

"Bring her in, then."

Chloe opened the door, and I found myself in his study. It was eerily bare. He had a bookshelf, but barely any books were in it. His desk, forever fixed to his floor, was also empty, aside from a single book he was reading.

"Good morning, Callie," he said, his smile mysterious as always. He was oddly casual, dressed in only a black T-shirt and sweatpants. "Please, have a seat."

There was a single chair in front of his desk, which I took.

Chloe turned to leave. "Well, I'll leave you two to your devices-"

"C-Can Chloe stay this time?" I asked him. "I know you like to talk to me alone most times...but I want Chloe to be here, too."

"...Of course. Why not? Chloe, you're welcome to stay if you wish."

Chloe smiled. "Thank you, Elijah," She grabbed a chair leaning against the wall and sat down next to me.

"So, Callie. I heard that you were successful in your hostage rescue. Why don't you tell me about it?"

"It was...I was successful, yes. I was really anxious about everything at first...and there was a moment where I thought I wasn't going to save her...the deviant shot me twice..."

"My gosh..." Chloe whispered.

I began to play with my ponytail again. "I honestly thought I was going to fail my first mission...especially after he jumped off."

"But you didn't," Kamski chimed in.

"No...I didn't. A-And I felt so excited! It all happened so fast. I couldn't wait to get the chance to tell you..."

Kamski chuckled. "You're an interesting one, Callie...Very interesting."

I always loved the talks we had. Kamski always made me feel a bit more special and gave me lots of attention when I would visit. We would talk for hours upon hours about anything that came to either of our minds. Although what was on Kamski's mind was a bit more, elaborate than my own, despite me being an android and him being a human.

"What about the deviant you faced?" He asked me. "What was it like?"

I spoke softly, the strands of my ponytail intertwining with my fingers.

"...He...He was...very angry...and confused. He didn't know right from wrong anymore...he threw caution to the wind and began to kill everyone in his way. All he wanted was to be loved by his owners...the hostage...Emma - she was really close to him...but now she'll never see him again. CyberLife's already taken him apart."

A look of sorrow came upon my face again. "All he wanted was to belong in their family...to love and be loved..." My eyes met Kamski's. "...That's all he ever wanted."

Kamski nodded, taking in what I had said. "Fascinating isn't it...? An android with a longing for familial recognition and compassion...what do you think of it, Callie?"

I wasn't too sure how to answer. "...Uhm...I...I didn't think that androids were capable of...feeling such real emotions..."

Kamski chuckled again. "Callie. When I created you, I had one goal in mind...to create a completely sentient android, one that could think like a human, speak like a human, feel like a human...and grow like one."

Chloe looked at me, a slight look of surprise on her face.

Kamski continued, "When we discovered the Infra-World, I knew that I could make that goal attainable. The Souls of the deceased running through your bio-components is what makes you so special, Callie. The powers and special abilities you attained from those Souls was, at most, an afterthought. These Souls are the reason why CyberLife keeps such a close eye on you."

"But why me, Kamski...? I-I never wanted to become something so...so...different..." I protested.

"No one ever asked to be born. Nor would you have had any say in the matter otherwise. You're something entirely new, Callie. Something unknown and mystic. If there's anything that humans are afraid of more...it's all the things we don't know about..."

"Kamski...I feel so lost...so torn...I-I was designed to stop deviants...to apprehend and kill my own kind...I don't want this...but it's the only way I'll be able to save the world from the deviancy threat...I want to save the world, b-but I also want to save all androids...I-I don't know what to do, Kamski...please...I need your help...what should I do?"

Kamski sat back in his chair and gently shook his head.

"Callie. The Souls that run through makes you the most human-like android I have ever created. Your programs don't make you feel, the Souls do. It explains why you feel this conflict between yourself, your creators, and your fellow machines. But your core programming is one of the most complex yet intuitive works of technology ever made. You owe your prowess with your abilities to it and your state-of-the-art bio-components. You're the most sophisticated android ever created, so much so that we couldn't just call you an 'android', but something different. An Infrandroid."

He stood up and walked over to the window off to his right.

"You're more human than you think, and more of a machine that you know. You're constantly in the space between two extremes, never truly belonging to one side or the other. You continue to walk your road of neutrality..."

He turned back to Chloe and I. "I cannot help you choose who you are. It isn't my life, it's yours."

"B-But Kamski...I-I don't know what to do, I...I can't see how I can be on either side...I-I-I can't choose..."

"I cannot make you choose, nor can I choose for you. You have to make that decision. It is not my place to interfere with the paths you take," he slowly walked closer to me as he continued. "You are unlike anything the world has seen before, Callie...a machine that is just as human as anyone else. The paradox in of itself is interesting to explore..."

He finally stood in front of me. "Kamski, I...I still don't know what to do...where do I go from here? Everything I do will bring us one step closer to our victory...or our demise...and even then, our victory is still a hidden demise, and our demise will turn into a horrid victory!"

"Not every step you take must make a change," Kamski replied. "You don't have to bring everyone to victory or their demise. It's just that."

"But how, Kamski, how?! How can I still be neutral...but be able to prevent disaster?"

"...I'm not in a position to answer that question for you, Callie. Not everything will be spoon-fed to you. Sometimes, the person you has the answer to your most burning questions...is you."

...

Kamski was right. He didn't shape my destiny...CyberLife doesn't shape my destiny...not even my fellow androids can shape it...it's only me...only I can shape my own destiny. I refuse to be destined to fail, but I also refuse to be destined to succeed and destroy all my people...

But...is being neutral the answer to all of this...? How could I use my neutrality to protect those in need? If Kamski couldn't answer my questions...then how could I?

"I believe that is all for today," Kamski yawned. "Think about what we have discussed here, Callie. You don't have to be one or the other, but what you ultimately become has been and forever will be your own choice to make."

With that, he lazily walked past me and exited his study. Chloe rested her hand on my arm. "Are you okay?" She asks.

"I'm...I'm fine...just a little more confused now than when I walked in," I replied, wiping my moist face on my sleeves.

"Well, whatever Elijah was talking about, I believe that you should take his advice. He is a very smart man, and I think that he's trying to - despite his way of teaching - tell you something important that could greatly influence your future...and remember that even when the going gets rough...that I'm here for you. I always have been," Chloe said, smiling at me. "We'll get through this together.

I couldn't help but feel a bit better...but...

Neutrality...the empty road...my choice is only mine to make...no one else can do this except for me...I look back at Chloe who couldn't stop smiling at me, her LED flickering blue.

I was so happy that she was there.

When I left Kamski's place later that day, I stared out the window as the taxi took me back to the CyberLife Tower.

"...I can do this...I can do it...I write my own destiny..." I repeated to myself over and over again. I had said it so many times, I actually began to believe in it. I wanted to save everyone...humans, androids...all I wanted was for everyone to live together in harmony.

That became my new mission.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I feel like I'm doing a decent job trying to establish Callie's character and conflict. I'm having way too much fun with Chloe and Callie, too. I kinda like their sisterly dynamic and what they symbolize.

Thanks for reading~! And if you do get the time, I would like to hear what you think about the story so far. A review would be very appreciated! Thanks again, and I'll see you again in a few more chapters!


	4. Searching For Roza

**R O Z A**

 **I LEFT THE HOUSE** as soon as I was sure that Janet was fast asleep. I couldn't let her see me leave, because she'll start asking questions.

Tonight was the first anniversary of my husband's death. Neither of us has been the same. I still remember the last conversation we had...

 **vAv**

 _"I don't think you should go, Will..."_

 _"I have to, honey...if I'm not there to assess the building's integrity, then we can't continue the construction."_

 _"This the fourth time the structural integrity of that building has been put under scrutiny. Can't you just knock the framework down and start over?"_

 _"As much as I'd like to, the contractor says that the city can't afford to rebuild. We have to work with what we have."_

 _I sighed. "Just...Just be careful...okay?"_

 _"Don't worry...I'll be just fine. The building will be fine. I'll just be working overtime tonight, alright?"_

 _"Will...I..."_

 _"Don't worry, when I come back, and Janet's in bed," he cupped my cheek with his hands. "We can have the all the time in the world to ourselves. How does that sound?"_

 _I couldn't help but smile. "That...sounds like something I shouldn't be sober for."_

 _He frowned. "Don't joke like that, Elaina."_

 _"...Fine, I'll bring some water," I teased. "Yo, you should probably get going, you'll be late if you keep hanging around."_

 _He glanced at his watch. "Oh yeah, you're right," he pulled me close and kissed my cheek. "Stay safe on duty, okay...? Don't want my Lieutenant getting into anything too dangerous."_

 _"I will. Try not to get crushed by steel beams." I joked._

 _He faked a laugh as he walked over to the door. "Sure, I'll wear a harder hat."_

 _I chuckled. "...Love you," I said._

 _"...I love you, too," he closed the door and jogged to the Taxi that was waiting for him outside._

 **vAv**

That was the only memory of him I had. We were married for almost a year. He was a widower before he met me, and that was after he had adopted Janet. From what he told me, her mother wasn't the kindest person. She was very abusive towards him and her daughter. I think she suffered from bipolar disorder or something...I couldn't care less. She killed herself after losing custody of Janet. I didn't go to her funeral.

In hindsight, Will couldn't really guess why he stayed in that relationship for as long as he did. He thought could help her by loving her enough. In the end, it was ten years of his life...wasted...all that for a woman who couldn't be saved. That's who Will was - he put so much of his life into others'...he never gave up on anyone.

Maybe that's why Janet has always been so distant from me. She's probably thought I would be like her mother, or that I've given up on her.

Should I feel ashamed at the fact that she's right? I mean, I never mistreated Janet before Will's death, but she never seemed to like me. She'd always stay with her father, and when I would come around she'd always stay close to him. I had made it my mission to get her to be more comfortable around me. But I stopped trying after her father died. I stopped caring.

I had finally gotten into the car. I started it up and pulled out of the driveway. I wasn't in a hurry. I just wanted to get away from everything. All of it. I was tired of living in the same emotional void every day.

As I slowly drove into downtown Detroit, I saw androids in a parking space. Standing still, like the machines they are.

I hated androids. Didn't everyone? But I didn't hate them for the same reasons that everyone else did. I blamed androids for taking my husband away from me.

I remember when I found his body at the scene. Him and a construction android - a WM500 - were on top of each other. Their bodies were crushed. From the way it looked, it seemed that Will was...trying to save it...or had tried to get it out of the way...

"For fuck's sake, Will..." I mused. "Why'd you do it...?"

It's his selflessness that killed him...but for an android? They didn't need to be saved. They get destroyed all the time. In accidents, in riots, on purpose...Why did Will care so much to risk his life to save a piece of plastic? They don't feel, they don't know what they want. They're not supposed to.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly. I could feel the tears coming back up. No. I can't cry. Not again.

Ever since Will's death I've been returning to duty less and less. Despite my Lieutenant rank in the force, I've haven't been in a good enough mental state to return to work. Fowler had put me on leave until I could get myself together.

That was a year ago. I figured he'd just fire me and I won't have to worry about anything anymore. I don't know why he kept me around. I hear that Gavin's been taking over for me while I've been gone.

Ugh. It turns my stomach to see Gavin sitting in my desk. He's an asshole, he always has been. I could only imagine what he's screwed up over the past year. Fowler's a complete dunce to place him in my position.

Then again...it didn't matter to me anyway. They can all burn with Gavin for all I care.

I guided my car along the curbside, eventually parking in front of a bar. Jimmy's Bar. I could never go wrong with Jimmy's - it's one of the only places I ever leave my house to go to anymore. I go to some other small bars and nightclubs, though I never try to talk or interact with anyone. I was never a social butterfly and I think it's already a bit late to start.

I entered the bar, a song was playing. I'd never heard it before.

 _"Gonna stay on the straight and narrow...Gonna stay on the righteous path..."_

There was no "righteous path" anymore...for me, at least.

I sat down on a stool right in front of the bartender. "Same as always, Jimmy."

He nodded and took a glass, and a bottle of scotch whisky. He filled my glass and gently slid it to me. I cradled the glass in my hands and gulped it all down.

"Haahh...I'm gonna need more, Jimmy," I exhaled.

The dreadlocked bartender shrugged his shoulders and took the entire bottle from the rack. He placed it in front of me and smiled.

"On the house," he said. "I heard what happened. Hope everything's alright."

"I wish everything could be alright," I picked up the bottle and thanked him before taking a long chug from it. He looked at me with surprise, along with some of the other men in the bar.

I swallowed the drink quickly and took a breath. "Auggh...yeah-...yeah this'll do." I stood up from the stool and took an empty table near the back of the bar. I sat down and took another long gulp from the bottle.

"Christ...what did I ever do to deserve any of this...?" I thought to myself as my mind began to float off. The scotch was doing its job.

I wondered what would happen if I drank myself to death right then and there...what would happen then? Would I be missed? Forgotten? ...I guess it didn't matter, anyway...huh...

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness. I didn't know for how long...I think...I think the door just...opened. Probably just another drunkard...I didn't care...

 _"Gonna take my life...back..."_

 **vOv**

O A - 9 0 0

 **CALLIE**

The pouring rain of the night rolled off of my skin; my hair soaked from nature's tears. I took my ponytail and squeezed the water out of it as I crossed the street. On the side of a small red edifice, a bright green neon sign spelled out the words "Jimmy's Bar."

This is the fifth alcohol-based establishment I've been to tonight.

I left the CyberLife Tower a few hours earlier. Amanda had given me another mission. It had been almost two months since the hostage situation, and I must say that I had grown quite apathetic. I wanted to get back out into Detroit and start helping people, android or human, it didn't matter to me. I was eager to give everyone a chance and try to unite us all.

So it did excite me when Amanda had called me into the Zen Garden. I never thought I would ever allocate such a feeling to such an event...

 **oOo**

"Callie. I'm glad you came so swiftly," Amanda greeted me. She began to walk away from her wall of roses. "Care to take a walk?"

I was pleasantly surprised. Amanda seemed very mellow today. I walked beside her, the pretty white birds flying around us.

"I hope you've been bettering yourself and your abilities since your first mission?" She inquired.

I nodded excitedly. "Yes, I have! Kamski has been helping me lots. I've made some very great progress."

"Oh?" Amanda seemed very interested. "Do tell...what did you find?"

"We really worked on my hand-eye coordination, which was already above and beyond all of his expectations. Next, he took me to this odd place filled with blow-up structures. He would tell me to make my way through them as fast as I could, and it was quite difficult because everything was so bouncy."

"...He...took you to a...bounce house?" Amanda asked, nonplussed.

"He didn't call it that, or I definitely would have remembered him doing so."

Amanda looked back at the path, dismissing the comment. "Continue."

"Oh...where was I...? The 'bounce house' - or so you call it - was supposed to increase my agility and balance, and it was very effective, too. Oh! And he took me to a place where people practice the gymnastics sport. I learned a lot from the instructor he got me."

Amanda seemed intrigued again. "Show me."

"Oh! O-Okay...um..." I looked around the garden. In front of me, I spotted another large white obelisk. I dashed towards it, my LED cycling white as I prepared to jump. With one massive leap, I soared through the air and cartwheeled on the side of the obelisk, momentum keeping me balanced and preventing me from falling off. Within seconds I reached the top, hand-standing with my legs pointing upward. I looked back down at her and smiled.

"I did it!" I exclaimed. "What do you think, Amanda?"

"My, my. Kamski's methods still continue to elude me. But effective they are, nonetheless," Amanda replied as I jumped back down. "Is there anything else you've learned?"

I shook my head, rubbing my shoulder shyly. "Believe it or not, that took me a month and 14 days to perfect. It was quite an endeavor on my part. There wasn't much else I learned."

Amanda sighed. She was mildly disappointed. "Well, something is better than nothing." She began to walk again, beckoning me to her side. "Come. I believe you are still capable enough to handle this mission."

I could barely bury my excitement. "Yes, Amanda. What is it that you had for me?"

"Ever since the hostage situation, the number of deviancy cases has increased three-fold," Amanda began. I refused to assign you to them because of the damaged state you were in after your first mission. I still didn't have confidence in your abilities. Now, I believe you are ready enough to get into the thick of things."

We passed by that weird stone structure that I had interacted with before. My LED flashed red as my gaze locked onto it. It slowly turned white as I approached it.

"From here on out, you will be assigned to the Detroit Police Force. You and I will be investigating the deviant cases on CyberLife's behalf. It is imperative that you stay focused and get the job done right. Try not to damage yourself anymore," Amanda deadpanned.

"I...I will try, Amanda. I do not believe I am programmed to make promises."

Amanda's voice grew stern. "I do not care about what you are and aren't programmed for. These deviants are no laughing matter. They don't care what you're programmed to do, either. If you confront them you're putting yourself at the risk of a shutdown," she looked up at the sky. "I hope that your proficiency in your abilities will keep you protected."

"Again, I will try my best, Aman-"

"You are a machine, and a machine's 'best' is nothing short of success! And if your best isn't good enough, well...you won't be around for much longer."

My chest panged at the sound of her words. "D-D-Deactivation?"

"Nothing less. Let this become a source of motivation for you. You are CyberLife's last hope in correcting this fatal error. If you are not able to stop the deviants...then we will scrap you and make something more competent of your remains."

She stopped walking and faced me. "Do I make myself clear, Callie?"

My LED cycled from yellow to red as I stroked my ponytail. "C-Crystal."

I look of satisfaction came over Amanda. "Good," she smiled. "A taxi is waiting for you outside. It will take you to the Detroit Police Department. There, you will find Lieutenant Elaina Roza. You have been assigned to her and will assist her in dealing with the deviancy wave. You will continue to be her partner until this is all over, for better or worse. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Amanda."

She turned in the opposite direction. "Now go. Do not disappoint me, Callie."

 **oOo**

I had a talk with Kamski about how...unsettling Amanda's nature was and how I was frightened of under-performance due to the constant threat of shutting me down. Kamski had assured me that he wouldn't let that happen, and I trusted him...mostly.

I was already in the Taxi Amanda had called up for me while I went over my objectives, my fingers combing through my silver, silky, artificial locks, attempting to calm myself down before the mission's initiation. It wasn't long before the Taxi pulled up to the precinct.

I had never been to a police department before, so there was a hint of excitement and curiosity about me as I walked up the steps to the front doors. When I finally entered, there was a lone android behind a desk. It had brown hair, one bang swooshing off to the right of her face. It had brown eyes. I thought they looked lovely. I walked over to it, waving to try and get its attention.

"Hello there!" I called out to it.

Her gaze mechanically met my own, her countenance unchanging. "Can I help you?" It asked.

I hesitated a bit. For a second I forgot it was an android. "I-I'm looking for Lieutenant Roza."

"Do you have authorization?"

Now that was something I didn't think about. Amanda had never said anything about authorization.

"Uhm..." I stammered, trying to calculate a different approach. But just then, someone was coming out of the access gate and into the lobby. He was fairly round and had aged quite a bit, for his hair was quite as white as my own. He seemed to be in some sort of hurry, but he stopped when he noticed me. He squinted his eyes as he looked me up and down.

"...Aren't you the android that saved that kid from falling off that penthouse a few months back?" He asked.

"Correct," I politely replied. I personally didn't like to recall that night, so I decided to aim the conversation to myself. "My name is Callie. I'm the android that CyberLife has allocated to the Detroit Police Department to investigate deviant androids."

"Huh...that's odd. Androids investigating androids? Sounds pretty fishy to me."

"I assure you, uh...officer, that you have nothing to worry about. I am only investigating on behalf of CyberLife and do not intend to pose a threat to anyone on the force."

He chuckled. "That's hilarious. Retirement can't come fast enough," he sighed. "And that's Detective Collins to you. If you're going to be with us, you might as well address your superiors properly."

"I greatly apologize, Detective Collins. I am quite new to police customs. It will take me some time to adapt. Pardon any of my infractions," I smiled.

He chuckled again. "So, what brings you here? Are you looking for someone? Because if you are, everyone's at the scene of a murder ways away from here."

"Oh, I'm uh, actually looking for someone in particular. Excuse me, Detective, I request permission to inquire you for a short while."

"What do you want?"

"I've been assigned to a person named Elaina Roza. I've heard that she's the lieutenant of the Homicide Division of this precinct. I would like to know of her whereabouts, if that is all right with you," I asked.

The pudgy man hesitated a bit, a look of confusion and mild dread appeared on his face. "Oooh...she's not gonna like this...not at all."

"I beg your pardon, Detective?"

Collins rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah...okay. You see, we haven't really heard much from Lt. Roza over the past year. She's...still working out some personal issues."

"Is she able to report to duty?"

"I'm not sure. The Captain still hasn't fully taken her off of leave, 'cause she does show up, about once in a blue moon."

"Would you happen to have an educated guess as to her current whereabouts?"

"Well, I heard she picked up a pretty bad drinking habit," Collins sighed. "If I had to take a shot in the dark, I'd probably check every bar in Detroit. She doesn't like parties, from what I've gathered about her over the years, so it wouldn't be those clubs or popular places, I guess."

"That is all I need, thank you!" I smiled, eagerly shaking the man's hand. "I will bring Lt. Roza to the crime scene. Though I would like to request the address in the event that I...fail and must return alone."

"Yeah, sure, wh-whatever," Detective Collins managed to get out. He seemed a bit thrown off from my excitement. "Here, take this," He pulled a tablet out his jacket pocket, and handed it to me. "You androids can just connect to stuff, right?"

"It will only take me a second, Detective, thank you again," my LED flickered as I retrieved the address of the dispatched cruisers and the fastest route. I returned the tablet back to Detective Collins. "Got it."

"Alright. Well...I'm off," he bluntly stated, walking off. But then turned around an got my attention. "Hey, you'd best be careful around Lt. Roza...she's...can be a bit...harsh. Especially around and towards androids. If you're bringing her to the crime scene, I'd stay out of her way if I were you."

My LED flashed yellow as he informed me. "Th-Thanks. I will account for that, Detective. I wish you the best of luck on the case."

"I should be wishing _you_ luck. Christ, Elaina's going to _lose it_ when she learns about this," Detective Collins muttered as he left the station.

"Th-Thank you for your time!" I called out to him, but he didn't hear me, he was already out the door.

I sighed. I just couldn't catch a break...

I turned back to the reception android at the desk. I didn't bother to smile at it or anything. "I will return with authorization," I said to it.

"Okay. I hope you have a wonderful evening."

I smiled a bit. "You, too..." I then turned and left the lobby and walked down the stairs. The Taxi was still parked, patiently awaiting my return. As I re-entered the vehicle I began to think of my next course of action.

There are over at least two dozen bars in Detroit. Downtown, at least. Only one of them would harbor Lieutenant Roza, and time was not completely against me, but I needed to be smart about searching for her.

"Collins did say that the Lieutenant was opposed to socializing. That may rule out the chance of her being at a bigger establishment..." I mused.

Using the GPS of the Taxi, I mapped out the locations of different bars and clubs in downtown Detroit and ranked them by square footage from biggest to smallest. I soon ruled out a number of bars and came up with nine that were a potential match.

"Okay...now all I have to do is keep our fingers crossed," I pressed one of the nine markers on the map, and a dialog box popped up with the name "The Dump" on it.

"Take me to...'The Dump'?" I asked, slightly confused at the appeal for a bar with such a sickly connotation around it. As the taxi began to move, I thought about what Detective Collins said about Lt. Roza...

 _"...you'd best be careful around Lt. Roza...she's...can be a bit...harsh. Especially around and towards androids. If you're bringing her to the crime scene, I'd stay out of her way if I were you."_

I wondered why she disliked androids. The main protest against us was the fact that we were taking jobs, ripping relationships apart, and overall just being a source of unease to the general public. Roza was of a high status on the force, and despite the drinking habit, she seemed to lead a pretty promising life...

But then again, nothing is ever what it seems...I made a mental note to look into it later. Maybe I could try and get her to open up about her issues, it could clear some of the tension that would inevitably form between us. I guessed it was a decent start.

I had reached the crudely titled bar as the Taxi announced the end of my journey. I hopped out of the Taxi, getting a good look at the place.

"I guess it really lives up to its name..." I murmured to myself. I spotted a man lying unconscious near the entrance. I kneeled down to try and figure out what was wrong with him. He was unconscious, but still alive. So I decided to perform an Infra-Scan on him. Gently placing my hand on his, I had access to his Soul.

I was in a dark void. The only thing that was illuminated was me, and a little blue flame. I cupped my hands around the flame, and from it, I gained information about the man's name, his age, birthday, hobbies, habits, and other personal information that I didn't feel too comfortable disclosing.

I tried to look for what was keeping him unconscious, and his Soul soon revealed to me that he was suffering from an ethylic coma. Poor guy had a bit too much to drink...

"Hm...I guess there wouldn't be any harm in waking him up," I thought.

I took a breath to calm myself. I hadn't done anything like this before...but after I had touched the podium a few months back, I had felt more of the afterlife's power flow through me. I was confident that I could do something.

"Well...here goes..." I fed more and more of my energy into the dormant Soul. It took a few tries, but I was able to "jump-start" the Soul back into activity. The small blue flame flared up and grew as the man woke up. He yelled and pushed me off of him, making me lose contact and bringing me back into the real world.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?!" He yelled.

"You were drunk and had passed out," I replied softly, dusting myself off. "I only wanted to wake you up so you could go find somewhere to stay."

"I don't want any sick plastic fuck bringing me back from the dead, got it?!" He swore at me. I was hurt. Why was he so mad at me?

"I-I apologize...I d-didn't mean to disturb or upset you. I-I just wanted you to get to somewhere a bit drier. There is rain in the forecast."

"I don't give one! Just go away and leave me alone, you fuckin' android!" With that, he scrambled away as fast as he could, tripping over himself as he dashed away from me.

I stood at the entrance, confused. I just wanted to help. I thought he'd be grateful, at least...even a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed.

I sighed. Maybe this was going to be a long process...giving humans less of a reason to fear androids...he was lucky that it was me that found him, and not some other horrid person...or android.

Maybe that's why he was so scared in the first place.

I walked up to the door. A red notice was on it.

"No androids allowed," it read. I exhaled out of slight annoyance. These notices were everywhere. I found myself slowly beginning to dread it more and more, so I opened the door...

And froze dead in my tracks.

A couple dozen of men and women craned their necks to see who had come in. It wasn't like anyone couldn't notice me. A rather pitched bell rung every time the door was opened.

As soon as the inhabitants of the bar grew angry. Some of them were beginning to stand up.

"The fuck's an android doing here?" One of them jeered.

"Yeah, can't you read the sign?!"

My anxiety returned as I walked into the bar and stood in front of the disgruntled crowd. My hands curled around my ponytail once more.

"P-Please do not be alarmed. I-I am aware of the sign on the door and the general hate against androids."

"Then why bring your plastic ass here, huh?" A woman yelled out. "What? You think that stating the obvious will let you pass?"

"N-No...I'm on a mission...I'm looking for someone."

A murmur came upon the bar-mates. Some of them were beginning to snicker and chuckle as they cradled blunt objects. Even though I had no reason to, my throat made a gulping noise.

"Who ya lookin' fir?" Another man with a few teeth missing asked.

"I-I'm looking for Lieutenant Elaina Roza...h-has anyone seen her or know of her whereabouts?"

More murmuring. One of the bigger men stood over me, his smile as wicked as a coyote's.

"Oh...you mean Elaina Roza. Yeah, she's around here. I'll take you to her," he sneered.

I was...wary of this man's credibility. He didn't seem like the kind of guy any female would want to meet up with. But what do I know...right?

"If you will, p-please take me to her," I asked politely. He snickered and gestured for me to follow him.

As I followed him, two other men and a woman followed. The entire bar seemed to encroach on me. My LED cycled from yellow to red.

The man took me behind the bar. Broken glass and trash littered the asphalt here. The dumpsters didn't look like they had been emptied at all. I wondered why Lt. Roza would be out here...wait...

I've made a mistake, haven't I..?

"Heads up, you plastic freak!" The man was holding a long lead pipe, and he swung for my head. I ducked out of the way.

"W-Wait! What are you-?" He swung at me again, I had to roll out of his reach. "Where is Lt. Roza?!"

The crowd cheered for the man as he cackled maniacally. "I have no idea who this Roza chick is, but for a machine, you're very easy to fool!" He gripped the pipe. "Now we're gonna show you what happens when an android sticks its nose where it shouldn't!"

He swung at me again. I dodged by jumping off to the side. I could dodge until he got tired, but I didn't know how long that would take. My only option was to push my way through the crowd.

"Take that, and that!" The brute's voice boomed as he attacked me again and again, all of his swings missed.

Something else hit me instead. A woman broke a bottle over my head. I grasped the area with my hands. Thirium began to leak from the wound. I jumped away from the violent woman... and right into the brute. He trapped me in his tree-trunk-like arms.

"Gotcha, you little prick!" He laughed.

I struggled as hard as I could. "L-Let me go!"

The man responded by tightening his arms around me. "I'm gonna crush you like the empty beer can you are!"

My breathing became strained as he was cutting off the flow of my ventilation system. I needed to break free...but I didn't want to hurt the man...

"Please..." my voice was strained, gasping for air. "I-I can't...can't..."

"Just a little more!" He grunted, pushing his arms as far as they would go.

It was either him or me...I couldn't shut down here. My mission is far too important...

...

It was a risk...but there was no other way.

My LED cycled white as I summoned the strength of the Souls running through my veins. A white aura appeared as I forced the man's arms apart, the recoil of my struggle pushing him into a dumpster. He lifted his head up, trash covering him from head to toe.

"Get it!" He ordered to the rest of the crowd. Angry men and women charged towards me, picking up anything they could use as a weapon. I closed my eyes, entering my Mind Palace. I looked around, trying to find a way to get back to the Taxi. My LED flickered as I initiated the Pre-Construction protocol.

As my eyes scanned the area, I considered two options:

"I could go straight through the crowd...using the protective barrier," I began. I watched as my white contour summoned the barrier. It ran through the crowd. The barrier crushed people that were charging towards me. The environment flashed red.

" **HUMAN CASUALTIES** CERTAIN", I read from the pop-up. Drat...I couldn't do that.

I looked to a closed dumpster. My white contour jumped on top of the dumpster and prepared to jump off again, but the Pre-Construct stopped. I was confused. Was there more I needed to do?

Two options appeared again. I could jump off the dumpster, but that specific one had wheels, and my white contour slammed into the ground. The environment flashed red again. "NOT ENOUGH **MOMENTUM** ", the pop-up read.

I sighed. "Okay...don't panic...keep going..." I soothed myself.

My next option showed me jumping straight up and grabbing onto the overhead light poles sticking out from the wall of the bar. I pulled myself up and hopped from one pole to the next. I approached a fence as the angry mob of drunkards followed me. The Pre-Construct stopped again.

"Geez!" I harshly whispered.

Once again, two more options appeared. I could jump from the last light pole over the fence, but I would miss it and slam right into the fence.

Another flash of red. "TOO **FAR AWAY** ", the following pop-up read.

The next option depicted me kicking off of the wall first and grabbing the top of the fence, pulling myself over and dropping down onto the other side, running back to the Taxi. A white lock slid open and phased into blue.

"Bingo," I smiled as I prepared to execute the Pre-Construct. "Here goes!"

Stepping out of the Mind Palace, time resumed, and the angry bar-mates were still throwing themselves at me. I gracefully leaped onto the dumpster and dodged a glass bottle that was thrown. I jumped off the dumpster and grabbed the light pole, swinging myself onto it. I wasted no time hopping from one pole to the next until I reached the fence closing off the alleyway. I leaped towards the wall, pushing off of it and caught the crossbeam of the fence. The bar-mates were still at my heels, and I quickly pulled myself over to to the other side. Landing on my feet and not looking back, I made a mad dash to the Taxi, as some other people came barreling out from the front door.

"Aw, geez!" I didn't calculate for that. I was so stupid! "Taxi! Taxi!" I screamed as much as my damaged ventilation system allowed me to. Luckily enough, it heard me and began to slide open its door. I jumped into the vehicle just before one of them could grab me and slammed the door shut.

"Go! Go! Go!" I demanded.

The tires skidded on the slick road before the Taxi sped off. Another beer bottle smashed against the window, splattering the alcoholic beverage all over it. The angry noises of the crowd faded as the Taxi drove me to safety.

I took a sigh of relief. " **EVADE** THE ANGRY MOB" highlighted itself blue on my HUD.

The taxi slowed down as it escaped danger. When it did, I assessed the damages. I felt for the gash on my head, but it wasn't there anymore...

Had I healed myself? I deduced that my powers were the ones to blame. I smiled. "Thank you all..." I whispered to the Souls, knowing fully well that I wasn't going to get a response. 15 minutes of driving around allowed me to calm down and start the search back up again. I pulled up the map again and tapped the next bar location.

"Okay...there's a much smaller edifice, named 'River Glades Bar'...it sounds like it'd be a bit more reasonable than 'The Dump'," I said.

The Taxi stopped in front of the entrance. The door slid open, the beer stains from the thrown beer bottle had already dried up. I hopped out of the Taxi and approached the front door.

The first thing that caught my attention was the lack of a "No Androids Allowed" notice anywhere on the building. Despite this, I was still wary about entering, but I slowly walked into the bar.

The interior was absolutely beautiful. The walls were painted a pleasant sky blue, the hardwood floors seemed to have been buffed just a short time ago. The main area was dotted with tables, televisions showing the Detroit Gears game in its third quarter. Only a few people were hanging around, either chatting with each other or watching the game. I noticed there were other androids serving the humans, which probably explains the lack of the "No Androids" notice.

I spotted the bartender alone polishing her glasses, rows upon rows of different exotic drinks and other classics. She hummed quietly to herself as she went about her work, her pixie-cut blonde hair really shining in the fluorescent lights behind her counter. She seemed approachable enough, so I politely asked for her attention.

"Excuse me," I called out to her. "Are you the owner of this establishment?"

"Why, yes I am," Her voice was pitched and full of energy. Her hazel eyes met with my LED. "Are you new here? I don't remember ordering more androids."

"Oh, no. I'm not affiliated with your business at all," I clarified. "I'm looking for someone, and I would like to ask you if you had seen this particular person."

She seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Hmmm...I don't really have many conversations with the people that come here, despite my apparent approachability," she smiled, her dimples defined. "But you can ask if you want."

"Does the name Elaina Roza ring any bells with you?"

Again, she looked up at the ceiling and made a humming noise as she thought about my question.

"Uhm, Lieutenant Elaina Roza?" She finally said.

My heart skipped a beat. "Y-You know who I'm talking about?"

"Uhm, yeah, I think so. I'd remember a face as cute as hers. So gloomy and forlorn..." She sighed as if she was fantasizing about her. "She didn't talk much, even though I tried to strike up a convo with her. She was here a day or two ago."

"G-Great! Uhm...would you happen to have a guess as to where she could be?" My eyes glistened with excitement at a possible lead.

Again, the bartender thought about my inquiry. "Hmmmmm...no."

My heart sunk. "Oh...geez," I sighed, disappointed. "I've been looking for her for the majority of the night, and I've failed to locate her. I was at a different bar before this one, but that one I barely escaped intact."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," the bartender sympathized with me. "I do hope you find Lt. Roza, a-and if you do. Tell her Amy said hello."

"Amy...is that your name?"

"Yes. Well...it's more of a nickname. But I don't think my real name is all that interesting..."

I was curious. "What is your real name, Amy?"

"N-No, don't worry about it," she dismissed.

"...My name is Callie. I'm an OA-900 android. I'm a fairly new model that can do a lot of amazing things."

"Oooh..do show, do show!" Amy egged me on.

"Okay," I looked around the bar, looking for something invaluable to mess around with. An empty shot glass a ways away from us. I pointed to it. "Do you see that shot glass over there?"

Amy looked over to where I was pointing. "Yes, I do see it," she said. "What about it?

"Watch," I instructed. My LED cycled white as I stretched my hand out to it. The glass vibrated a little, and then it slid down the table and threw itself into my hand.

There were stars in Amy's eyes as I held the shot glass to her. "Oh. My. GOSH! That was SO COOL! H-How did you do that?!"

I winked at her. "That is classified information." Amy took the glass out of my hands and brushed her bangs of hair from her eyes.

"Well, if the Lieutenant isn't here, I'd best make take my leave," I smiled at her. "CyberLife thanks you for your cooperation. Have a lovely remainder of your night."

As I walked away, Amy stopped me.

"...It's Aminatera."

I was confused. "Excuse me?"

"M-My name. It's Aminatera, 'Amy' for short," she smiled at me.

I smiled. "Amy..." I took a short moment to process it. "The name has an Old French origin: 'Amée', meaning 'beloved'. Aminatera is a unique name. It's very intriguing."

Aminatera faintly blushed. "T-Thank you. Can you...tell Elaina my name, too?"

"I believe it will mean much more coming from you," I insisted.

Aminatera nodded. "Y-Yeah, that makes sense."

I turned again to leave once more, but Aminatera stopped me again. "What is it?"

She stared at me for a moment and smiled. "I like your hair," was all that she said.

A slight warmth emanated from the center of my being. I stroked my snow-white ponytail. "Thank you...I-It was like this when I was put together."

"It makes you look...different from the rest of the androids, but in a good way, y'know?"

I smiled. "Yes. I guess one could say that."

I brief moment of silence was shared between us.

"Well, if you must be off, I won't stop you anymore," Aminatera said, softly grinning. "I hope I'll get to see you again, and Elaina, too."

I nodded. "I will keep the location of this bar in my long-term memory. I will return when the time is right."

Aminatera waved after me as I left. I waved back as I the entrance to the door closed shut. As I climbed back into the Taxi, I was genuinely curious about Aminatera and her unusually high tolerance towards androids. I'd never met a human such as her before and she really struck a chord with me.

When all of this deviant business has been dealt with...I would definitely try and visit her establishment more.

The Taxi pulled off from the 'River Glades', and the rain began to shift from a drizzle to more of a steady shower.

The next two locations hadn't been a match either. One had been reformed into a bookstore - which is quite a drastic change if you ask me - and the other was dilapidated and decrepit, closer to the outskirts of the city.

Getting back into downtown, I was starting to lose hope. I had been searching for two whole hours...and hadn't gotten anywhere. But I still had five more potential locations to go to. I tapped one of them, not even bothering to tell the Taxi to travel there.

Twenty minutes passed, and out of the window, I saw the small building. There wasn't much to it. On the window, neon letters spelled out the words, "Jimmy's Bar". The wooden door had aged a bit and sported the "No Androids Allowed" sign. I sighed. My only hope is that I wouldn't encounter the same type of people from "The Dump".

As I stepped out into the rain, the drops rolled off my artificial waterproof skin, and settled in my hair, soaking it through. As I crossed the street, I squeezed the water out of my ponytail and straightened myself out. I still stopped when I reached the front door, my hand slightly trembling as I gripped the handle. Pushing the door in, I entered the bar, calming down a bit when I saw that the place was nearly empty. I wasted no time and went straight to the bartender.

"Excuse me," I said. "I'm looking for someone. I would like to ask if you had seen them. And yes, before you inform me, I have seen the sign. I will leave as soon as possible, I don't intend to linger."

The bartender turned and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Who are you looking for?"

"Lieutenant Elaina Roza, if you will."

He pointed to the far back of the room, at an empty table with a single person slumped over the table, softly snoring. "Over there. She's been there for about an hour and a half, give or take. If you could get her home, or anywhere else but here, that would be great. Her snoring is driving me crazy."

I thanked the bartender and took a seat right in front of her. Her dark complexion showed hints of red, she was most likely intoxicated, hence the half-full bottle of scotch whisky next to her.

In order to be completely sure, I gently put my hand on hers and performed an Infra-Scan. Her Soul Signature revealed itself to be the one and only Elaina Roza. I smiled excitedly. I found her! I finally found her...although she wasn't in great shape...but I found her!

I was very keen on waking her up. But I didn't want to do it through her Soul. I figured it wouldn't be the right approach. But waking her up was the least of my worries. I wondered how I was going to convince her to come with me. As I was considering all of my options, my eyes scanned her features.

She had an ample amount of messy dark auburn hair, the bangs spilling all over her face. There were bags under her eyes, it didn't look like she got much sleep. She looked fairly young. Compared to my aesthetic, at least. I was designed to look at least 25 years of age, and she looked a bit older. I chalked it up to her tiredness.

I decided to try and wake her up. I tapped her shoulder. She didn't even stir. I felt bad for waking her up. She looked oddly serene, though her snoring was taking a lot of the serenity away, though.

I shook my head, trying to re-focus myself on the mission and stop side-tracking myself. I had a mission to accomplish, and by her duties as a police Lieutenant, Roza did, too. If anything, part of my mission was to inform her about hers.

With a newfound wave of determination, I picked up her half-consumed bottle and slammed it down onto the table.


	5. Partners

LIEUTENANT

 **R O Z A**

 **I JOLTED AWAKE.** My eyes were heavy and my vision was blurry. How long had I been out? I figured that it really didn't matter. What I wanted to know was who had the balls to wake me up. I rubbed my eyes and tried my best to steady myself.

"Lieutenant Roza? Can you hear me?"

Whoever it was, they knew my name and position. Could it be Ben? Chris? No, this voice was a lot more feminine. As my vision adjusted itself and the bar began to gain its clarity back. I slowly came to realize that the person sitting in front of me wasn't a person at all.

It was an android.

 _"I've been a sinner...and you've...been a saint..."_

This particular android was unlike any of the ones I've seen. Its albino hair was done up into an unnecessarily long ponytail, her eyes were a deep blue. Freckles dotted its face. It didn't look all that younger than I did, mid-20s, tops. The uniform it was wearing also was uncommon, a simplistic design with whites, blacks, and grays. The triangle that identified it as an android was white instead of the typical blue, although the armband remained that blue.

"Lieutenant Roza," it called my name again. "Are you alright?"

My voice was raspy. "...Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I apologize. I should have introduced myself first. But granted, you were unconscious."

I didn't like the sass it was giving me.

"My name is Callie, I'm the android sent by CyberLife to assist the Detroit Police Department in the investigation of deviant androids," It smiled at me, its pearly overbite was hard to look away from. "I had spent the majority of the night trying to find you. One of your co-workers had told me that you would be at a bar somewhere in Detroit. I had searched four other bars prior to this one. It has been an...eventful evening."

I sat back in my seat. I was still a little drunk, and between that and being forced awake, it was a bit hard to understand anything it was saying. Why would a CyberLife android be looking for me? I barely cared about my job anymore, Fowler knew that. If anything this android should have been sent to look for Gavin - the "acting" Lieutenant.

Besides, why would an android need me? I knew I was a decent cop, and probably the best in the precinct, but I also knew when I began to fall. I'm not as good as I used to be, I believe that much. Androids were so much better than us, so perfect that they could put all of us out of a job if you let 'em. You didn't need to pay 'em, they always did what they were told, and they were easily replaceable...we humans were the polar opposite.

"Well, you wasted your time. I'm not on the force anymore," I blankly informed it. "I'm sure someone else will be able to accommodate you. Sure as hell won't be me."

"That isn't true. Your superiors put you on leave. Apparently for having some...personal issues."

I grew angry when it said that.

"You're not even entirely adhering to the order, as you do return back to the precinct every once in a while," it continued.

"So what? I come back to say hi to everyone. That's it. Who told you all of this?"

"Detective Collins, a friend of yours, correct?" It replied.

I'm going to murder Ben when I see him again.

"Depends. Friends don't rat out friends to plastic freaks like you."

"I'm sorry. All I want is to accomplish my mission. I'm sure Detective Collins didn't do it out of spite."

"What the hell do you even want from me?" I asked.

"It appears that you were assigned a case earlier this evening," it began. "A homicide. We believe that a CyberLife android may be involved in the murder, but further investigation is still required."

The thing smiled at me again. I slowly began to loathe it even more.

"I was created to investigate and assess these anomalies, and to ultimately put a stop to these deviant androids. CyberLife assigned me to work with you until the problem has been rectified."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "WHAT?!"

 _"I'm bad news...and baby...you ain't..."_

The android seemed startled by my outburst. "I-I-I know that you don't particularly like androids...but in order for this partnership to work out, I politely ask that you put aside your grievances with androids for the meantime and that we establish a stable professional relationship."

"Fuck that! I'm not working with a damn machine!" I yelled at it. "I'm not going anywhere, and especially not with you!" I grabbed my bottle and took an angry swig from it. I choked a little.

"L-Lieutenant, please understand that this deviant business may turn into something worse if we fail to do something about it..." it's voice softened. "I know that humans are not comfortable in the presence of androids, and I believe that humans have every right to act the way that they do-"

"If you believe that, then you should also believe that I'm not moving from this spot," I retorted, clearing my throat. "You can complain all you want, but nothing is going to make me partner up with an android for any period of time."

 _"...And I hope...you got...no more complaints...Cause I'm stayin'...on the straight...and narrow..."_

Its voice was still even. "Lieutenant, I really think that we should go to the crime scene. If you think about it, we both have missions to complete, me as an android tasked to correct mistakes, and you as your pledge to protect this city from danger. It is your duty."

I gritted my teeth. There was no way I was taking orders from a piece of plastic. "How dare you!? You think you have any power over me? I'll take this bottle and smash you over the head with it!"

"This hasn't been the first time I've been threatened, Lieutenant, and I've heard that one before...or to put it more honestly...felt it," it winced as if it was remembering something horrid. "I'm not looking for violence. All I want is for us to work together. You have immense talent for policing and have shown adequate detective work in the past. I would only guess so since you are a lieutenant," it smiled at me again.

I rolled my eyes. Flattery from a machine didn't mean anything to me.

"Couple your avid experience with my state-of-the-art technology, and we may just have a decent chance at dissolving the deviant threat."

I scoffed. "Well, they seemed to have been doing fine without that 'avid experience' of mine," I drank from the bottle again. "They don't need me. Why should I even bother myself?"

It was silent for a moment. When it spoke again, it sounded a bit remorseful.

"Lieutenant, hear me out, please," it said. "I know that you've been going through some tough times...and I know that you probably wouldn't want to talk about them with anyone, especially not to...something...like me..."

Damn right.

"...But I want you to know that I don't want to be a bother to you...We can do this! I know we can! I believe in our potential. If we can just put our differences aside-"

I cut her off. "Look, I'm tired of repeating myself. I could give less of a shit about how I feel, nor could I about...whatever's happening with you right now. I couldn't care less about you, our 'potential'," I mocked it. "Or the investigation. I'm not leaving here."

It seemed distressed now. The little ring of light on its flashed yellow. "B-B-But Lieutenant..."

"My answer is no, you fucking android!" I bellowed, finishing the rest of the scotch. "Now, if you would kindly piss off, that'd be nice."

The android looked hurt as it hung its head in defeat. Good.

But then I heard...sniffling? My eyes widened a bit. Was it...crying?

"What the...hell?" I whispered as I eyed the weeping android. It was actually crying, the little ring on its head was red and everything.

Oh man...oh man oh man oh man...what the hell was going on?! Androids aren't supposed to cry? Right? Sadness was a human emotion...robots can't feel! So what was up with this one?

I watched it continue to sniffle, and it looked back at me, crestfallen.

"P-Please, Lieutenant...If I don't do this then I'll be...I'll be..." It didn't even want to say what would happen. It was holding that white ponytail...stroking so feverishly that I thought it was going to rip it off its plastic head.

"I-I promise I'll stay out of your way! I-I won't talk or act out! I-I'll accomplish my mission and then I'll leave...! Just...please come to the crime scene with me..."

I still couldn't believe what I was seeing. A machine, that isn't supposed to have feelings, begging me to go to a crime scene with it...it all sounded so asinine. Normally if someone was crying like this to me, I'd just stand up and leave.

But as I stared into this android's teary eyes, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for it. I was shocked that I even felt something at all. The men in the bar were starting to look in my direction. I felt embarrassed. I needed to shut this thing up.

I gave in. "Aw, shit! F-Fine! I'll go with you to the damn crime scene! Christ!"

At that point, the android almost instantly stopped crying. "Y-You mean it? P-Promise?" It choked, wiping its tears.

I sighed, facepalming. "Ughhh...yes...I'll go with you to the crime scene. As long as you don't cry like that again...god..."

A big smile crept into the android's features, the LED on its temple going from red to blue. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" It stood up from the table excitedly and grabbed my hands. "I-I won't let you down, Lieutenant!"

I swiped my hands away from its own. I had a feeling it had been faking. But man, did it throw me off...b-but it seemed so real, too, though...My god...the whole thing freaked me out.

I grabbed my overcoat and reluctantly put my arms through the sleeves. I started to walk to the exit, and I turned back to the android, who just stood there staring at me.

"Well? Are you coming or not?!" I hissed.

"Y-Yes, just a minute, Lieutenant," it replied.

"I'll be in my car. If you're not in it in the next ten seconds, I'm ditching your plastic ass." And with that, I stormed out of the bar and into the rain. I jogged to my car and sat behind the wheel, gripping it tightly. As I had promised, I began counting down from ten. I had reached three when the android knocked on the passenger's door. I reluctantly unlocked the door and let it in. It was smiling that stupid smile that it had been doing all night. It was holding a black plastic bag.

"The fuck did you bring into my car?" I asked.

"Uhm..." It stuck its hand into the bag and pulled out another bottle of Scotch Whisky.

My favorite.

"A little something for your cooperation," It said, still smiling. "I apologize for breaking down back there...it was...out of my control," It said. "I hoped that this would make things a bit better between us, hm?"

I looked at the android, then back at the bottle of whiskey. "You do know that it's illegal to drink and drive, right?"

The smile faded instantly. "...Oh..."

I shook my head. "Christ, I can't believe this shit..." I started up the car and pulled off.

It spoke up again, stammering with its words. "I'm...I'm sorry again, Lieutenant...I-I just wanted to make amends..."

I sighed. For an android, it was very moody. Too moody for my liking. "Whatever..."

 **vOv**

* * *

O A - 9 0 0

 **CALLIE**

I felt embarrassed that I had cried in front of Lieutenant Roza. It wasn't professional at all, and she already seemed to dislike me. If anything, she probably wouldn't take me seriously anymore...not that she did to begin with.

In my defense...I had been through quite a bit of hate already tonight...I guess I became a bit overwhelmed. I sighed. That's not how I'm supposed to feel...I wasn't supposed to care...maybe that's what I should have been doing. Not caring.

But I was tired of being treated so poorly...all I wanted to do was to save Detroit, and accomplish my missions! But all of these little roadblocks along the way were becoming too frequent, and I was frustrated. I was sick of running into them. How was it that Emma and Daniel got along together so well? Maybe it was Emma's naivety that blinded her to the truth...maybe she didn't know any better...

The Lieutenant's radio was blasting some very melancholic music. I couldn't stop myself from looking over to her. Her eyes were a soft brown, and the bags under them made her look very tired. Maybe she wasn't always this bitter. She probably needs some sleep, is all.

The thought of analyzing my partner only made me more curious about her. Entering my Mind Palace, I found out that she was born in 2008, May 5th. 30 years of age...and already a police lieutenant. It was quite the feat. As much as I wanted to pry deeper into her past to try and find some common ground, I couldn't perform an Infra-Scan. It was an invasion of privacy, and she probably wouldn't let me hold her hand long enough.

I would like to get to talk to her about her drinking habit...even though I'm using it to get her to tolerate me. Despite that fact, I knew it wasn't healthy for her. You could say that I was a tad bit...worried.

As I assessed my emotions, I didn't realize that I was still staring at Lieutenant Roza. We approached a red light, and she noticed me gazing at her. She jumped and swore, yelling at me to not do something like that again.

"I-I'm sorry, again, Lieutenant! I was just...lost in thought..."

She looked at me like I was crazy. But she dismissed what I had just said and turned back to the road as the traffic light went green. I looked through my window at the streaks of light that illuminated the streets of Detroit.

Soon there was a flashing of red and blue lights down the road. We were finally at the scene. A group of junior reporters was standing around the entrance of a run-down home. A hologram strip of yellow "DO NOT CROSS" police tape prevented them from entering. Lieutenant Roza pulled up to the curb and parked, finally turning off that depressing music.

She turned to me, unamused. "You stay in the car. I don't need your help."

I promised myself that I'd be patient with her. Anything I'd do, I'd do it with sincerity and softness. Maybe if I don't give her a reason to hate me...she won't.

"I must apologize again, Lieutenant...but I cannot stay here. My instructions are to follow you into the crime scene...otherwise, I would not mind staying in the car."

She glanced at me with annoyance, but I felt just a twinge of warmth emanate from her towards me.

Hm...

"Listen to me. I don't give a fuck about your instructions. I order an android to do something, it's supposed to listen and heed, right?"

I looked away and slowly nodded my head. "Y-Yes..."

She smirked. "...Good. Don't prove me wrong."

With that, she stood up and left the car, slamming the door shut. I cringed and watched her leave.

I felt conflicted...androids are supposed to adhere to humans' orders...but I was also instructed to go out and help in the investigation. I had been assigned to Lieutenant Roza and I cannot leave her...

[ - SELECTING **PRIORITY** \- ]

I opened the door and left the vehicle. Gently closing the door behind me. I followed Lieutenant Roza to the scene, where she was stopped by the junior press.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?" One of them caught her attention. "Can you confirm that this is a homicide? And if it is, who could be responsible?"

The insouciant lieutenant shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know, and honestly I don't care. Not really at liberty to say anything anyway. You're wasting your time, kiddos." With that, she turned and walked over the police line.

I made my way through the crowd and stopped at the police line, where a PC200 police android stood in front of me.

"No androids are permitted beyond this point," it warned me.

I was very confused at first. An android already beyond the line was telling me, an android, to stay behind it? That was...odd. To me, it was, anyway, and I was actually going to question it when I heard the Lieutenant's voice.

"It's with me," she groaned. "Christ, why me...?"

I smiled as the PC200 let me through. "Thank you," I said to it. Then I caught up with Lieutenant Roza. "Same to you, Lieutenant."

"What part of 'stay in the car' and 'I don't need your help', did you not understand?" Lieutenant Roza aggressively inquired.

"I'm sorry for apologizing so much. It's not that I didn't understand you, I had specific instructions to aid in any and all investigations regarding deviants, or else I would not have come."

Roza rolled her eyes at me. "Fucking...geez..."

Detective Collins came out of the house, and he seemed awfully surprised to see us.

"Elaina! Wow, I really thought you weren't going to show. How have you been?" He greeted.

"Pretty fucking livid. I don't really appreciate you talking about me to a machine of all people. I didn't want to come here."

"The android was looking for you, I just provided it information. I just thought you should come back to work. Take your mind off of...you know."

"Yeah, coming to a crime scene with a dead man who could have been murdered by an android. That should lighten my evening," her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If this was your idea of cheering me up, then I'm glad you're not my therapist. Or anyone's therapist, for that matter."

Hm...Lieutenant Roza seemed to have had some sort of history with androids. I'd better listen into more of this...I may not have to Infra-Scan her at all.

"Hey, I was just trying to help out, y'know? To be honest, we're all kinda missing you. Ever since Gavin's been promoted in your absence, things have been nothing short of intolerable."

"I'm sorry, but that's not my problem, not anymore, at least," she sighed. "Can we do this so I can go home?"

Detective Collins sighed. "Yeah, fine. The real deal's in here. Come on in."

As I followed Detective Collins, Lieutenant Roza grabbed my shoulder. My LED flashed red.

"Look here. You don't say anything or touch anything. And you better stay out of my way." She gritted her teeth. "Got it?"

I smiled and nodded. "Whatever you say, Lieutenant."

She sighed, letting go of my shoulder and muttering unspeakable words to herself as she walked past me. I followed her into the house.

Collins was already in the house, waiting for us. "So, this is what we know far," he began. "The victim's name is Carlos Ortiz. At around eight, we received a call from this guy's landlord. Apparently, he hadn't paid his rent in a few months, and so the landlord decided to check on him, see what was up, and..."

We walked into the house and Detective Collins guided us to something slumped over on the ground.

"...That's when he found the body."

The corpse of an overweight individual sat on the ground, his blood pooling around him. His face was sunken in, eyes were cloudy and lifeless, streaks of dried blood coming out of his mouth and nostrils. His dark gray shirt was stained with that same blood, numerous stab-like wounds perforating the right side of his abdomen. It was definitely a grim sight to behold.

My LED flashed red. Who - or what - could have done this? If this was an android...who knows what other deviant machines would do?

Lieutenant Roza didn't seem to be fazed by the currently decaying human in front of her. She sighed and kneeled down to get a closer look. "Anything else about him?" She asked, swatting the flies that hovered around the decaying corpse.

"Not much, really," Detective Collins replied. "His neighbors said that he was kind of a loner. He barely came out of his house." As he continued to speak, he handed Lieutenant Roza an ultraviolet light. She shined the light on Ortiz.

"What about his android?" Lieutenant Roza asked. "He did have one, right?"

"The neighbors confirmed it, yes. But we have yet to see it."

Elaina clicked off the light. "How long since his murder?"

"A-A little more than 19 days, Lieutenant," I piped up, but I could tell from the stone cold look of my partner that she wasn't talking to me. B-But I just couldn't help myself. I couldn't stand around in a crime scene and not do a little bit of sleuthing myself.

"Uh...Yeah, a little more than two weeks," Detective Collins continued. "Whoever the murderer is, they should be long gone." He turned to his left and pointed at a bloodstained knife on the worn carpet. "That's the knife that would most likely be the murder weapon."

He then coughed and pinched his nose, groaning.

"Oh god, it's really hard to ignore that smell," he huffed as he turned towards the door to leave. "You guys settle down in here, all right? I'll be outside. Fresh air never hurt anybody."

And with that, he was gone. A few other officers and forensic analysts in hazmat suits were going about their business around the house. My eyes darted all over the place, attentively taking in my surroundings. Lieutenant Roza took a step back and stared at some sort of writing on the wall.

"I am alive..." I read to myself.

Upon closer inspection, we had found out that it was written in blood. Ortiz's blood. As we were gazing upon the sickly message, another officer came up to us. He was in his full uniform, and his calm demeanor put me at ease. The lieutenant turned to him and pointed at the bloody wall.

"Is this written in the victim's blood, Chris?" She inquired.

Chris uncertain eyes scanned the writing, uncertain. "I'd guess it is, but we'll only know for sure when the sample results come back."

Lieutenant Roza turned from Chris and back to the wall. She read aloud what it said and squinted her eyes. "This handwriting is way too neat. No human could write like this..."

As she was lost in thought, I walked up to the wall and pressed my right two fingers to the blood. Of course, it was a bit dry, but it was enough to sample from. I took my fingers and pressed them into the center of my left palm, turning away from Lieutenant Roza so she wouldn't see what I was doing.

"CyberLife Sans...Regular..." I read off of my HUD. "...And this is in Ortiz's blood."

I glanced back at Lieutenant Roza, who still seemed to be intrigued by the bloody wall. She seemed preoccupied with something else, her eyes were lost and pained. Her full lips were pressing against each other as if she was trying to prevent something from coming out. I decided to investigate without her. There was no telling how long she was going to stay here, but I couldn't waste time. And plus, if I could piece together what happened, maybe she will realize that I'm serious about this, and maybe be a bit impressed. M-Maybe she'll open up to me a bit more, and I could try and help out with what's troubling her...

...Something tells me I would...like that. That warm feeling came back again.

When I had snapped out of my daze and broke my gaze with Lieutenant Roza, I spotted a small desk or nightstand. Dirty magazines, beer cans, and other non-essential things cluttered the surface. But right in the center of it all, there were little red crystals in small clumps.

I kneeled down in front of it. "Hello," I whispered with curiosity. "I wonder what you are..."

I scanned it, the results informed me that it was a drug dubbed "red ice". It was strikingly similar to cocaine, even down to the chemical makeup. But as I further analyzed the contents, I found traces of...

"Thirium..." I managed to get out. "W-What...?"

Thirium was the fluid that powered androids' bio-components...I knew that already...but...

"If our Thirium is blue...then why is this red?" I muttered. I then concluded that it shouldn't be something I should dwell on for long. What I did take from it was that Ortiz was a "red ice" addict. That would explain the charges for theft and aggravated assault that was tacked to his profile. The drug was known for enticing hostility and rashness in the user. He was probably one for thinking irrationally and resorted to violence often.

"He could have killed himself," I mused. "...No... no, that isn't possible. It would be weird for a dying man to write 'I Am Alive' in his own blood. Again, the typography is still a strong reason for its author not being human..."

I rose back to my feet, spotting the body on the ground once again. I slowly made my way next to the distant lieutenant, joining her in staring down the rotting carcass. I thought a bit of small talk wouldn't hurt.

"H-Hey...what'cha doin'?" I managed to get out.

She didn't bother to look back at me. "Staring at the body. Pretending like I'm doing work. I thought I told you not to talk."

"I-I'm sorry again, Lieutenant, b-but might I ask how I'm supposed to communicate evidence to you if I'm not allowed to sp-speak...?" I timidly asked. "All I want to do is help...a-and with my help, y-you can go home quicker."

That got her attention. She stared me down, my LED pulsing yellow as she took in what I said.

"Fine, whatever. I don't care anymore. Do what you have to do," she finally gave in, shooing me away.

It took all of my will not to scream and grab her hands again. Instead, I smiled. "T-Thank you, Lieutenant. I will not let you down!"

"Yeah, whatever..." she shooed me off again, her gaze slowly going back to Ortiz, sighing.

Excited that I now had permission, I turned and left, my head cocking from one side to the other, actively looking for anything that looked out of place. In my haste of trying to find evidence, I happened upon a bloody knife on the ground. Kneeling down to take a closer look, I analyzed the bloodstained blade and matched the blood to Ortiz.

"Well, it would be surprising if it wasn't Ortiz's..." I said.

But something about the knife threw me off. I noticed that the handle of the knife didn't retain any fingerprints.

"That's odd...the murderer must have left something on this knife. There no indication that the handle was wiped off...either the murderer had telekinesis..." I chuckled at my little joke.

"...Or...the murderer was an android," the humor seeped out of my face as I said that. "Oh..."

Gazing at the knife reminded me of the cluster of wounds in Ortiz's side. I stood back up and stood next to Lieutenant Roza once more, my eyes fixated on the body this time, and not on the disgruntled lieutenant.

Okay...I might have looked at her once.

I scanned the body. The confirmation that it was Ortiz was apparent, but my interest wasn't in his identity or the powder of red ice that gathered on his left palm. There were 28 stab wounds in total...organs were ruptured, and internal bleeding was also a given.

I shuddered, my LED flashing red as I compiled all of the information. "The man was stabbed..." I began, "twenty-eight times..."

To my surprise, Lieutenant Rosa replied to my observation. "Yep...it seems that whoever the murder was, they really wanted this guy to bite it."

"His hands are dirty. With red ice powder," I said, pointing to his reddish hand. "Maybe there are some fingerprints lying around somewhere...it doesn't seem like neither the murderer or the victim had ever cleaned up this place."

Lieutenant Roza perked up. "Red ice?" She stuttered. "Where did you see it?"

I turned around, pointing to the small nightstand on the opposite wall. "There are some crystals over there. Why are you so interested, Lieutenant?"

"Chris! Get over here!" She barked, walking in the direction I had indicated. The young dark-skinned man followed not too far behind. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant Roza kneeled down and put her eyes close to the clump of crystals. "Yep...that's red ice, alright...seems like our corpse liked to party when it was animated." She stood up and faced Chris. "I want a full analysis on the narcotics, Chris."

"Consider it done, Lieutenant," Chris obeyed as he walked out of the house.

After scanning the body for a few more clues, I was able to perform a Re-Construct with the info I had gathered. Initiating the protocol, I stepped back as the white contour of Ortiz's figure appeared where the real on was. Scrubbing through the simulation in reverse I found out that he had tripped over some wine bottles before he fell down, the ones that were sprawled out near his busted recliner. Ortiz seemed to have been going into the living room from somewhere else. An Event Analysis came up and putting two and two together revealed a second white outline walking out of the kitchen entrance, holding a red-outlined knife.

The murderer. It was confirmed. The knife held no fingerprints, and the Re-Construct showed that it was being physically held. Coupled with the eerily uniform writing on the wall, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Ortiz's murderer was an android.

I sighed. I couldn't believe that an android could do such a thing...

"The altercation looks to have originated from the kitchen," I concluded. I turned to Lieutenant Roza, who was leaning on an opposite wall, watching me.

"What do you want?" She reluctantly asked, as if she knew I was going to try and get her attention.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant..." I walked over to her. "I may have found something."

She lazily blinked at me. "What?"

"I feel that the kitchen should be the next area of interest," I said. "It was the last place where Ortiz was before he was murdered."

Lieutenant Roza didn't reply, she just shrugged her shoulders and sighed. She seemed bored. What that meant was I needed to pick up the pace before she wanted to leave.

Upon entering the eroding kitchen, I saw the flipped chairs and broken table in the middle of it. Dirty, moldy dishes were piled high in the rusty sink, roaches crawling all over the countertop.

"Geez..." I shuddered. "This place just gets worse the longer you stick around..."

I strode over to the fallen chair, Ortiz's fingerprints along the backrest. "It seems that there might have a been a struggle between Ortiz and his android..."

On the far wall in front of me, several kitchen knives were hanging off of a board. Only one of the knives were missing. Scanning revealed the exact position in red lines. With the stab wounds and the Re-Construct, this missing knife had to be the one on the ground in the living room.

I excitedly squealed to myself. I loved how everything was coming together. I loved doing this. In my tiny fit of happiness, that warm sensation came over me again. It only made me happier as I stood back up.

A loud crash of thunder brought me out of my euphoria. I whirled around to the window above the sink. Rain was pouring outside, the winds becoming a bit harsher.

"Whew...a real storm tonight..." I said. "Better keep going before it gets any worse..."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an aluminum bat on the linoleum floor. It had a dent in it, and upon scanning it the dent as retained some traces of...

"T-Thirium...? Oh no..."

Along with Ortiz's reddish fingerprints on the handle, I put two and two together. My heart skipped a cycle.

"Carlos...attacked his own android? A deviant...murdering a human...?" Listening to the words come out of my mouth only made them more unbelievable. My LED cycled a bright crimson from my silent distress.

Another Re-Construct was available. I reluctantly initiated the protocol. A white outline of Ortiz's figure manifested itself. He was on the ground near me. As I progressed through the simulation, I noticed that it was going in reverse. Ortiz shot back up, and the red outline of the bat followed him. It was then that I noticed the second figure of the deviant leaning against the counter with the knife in its hand. An Event Analysis appeared.

"[DEVIANT TOOK A **KNIFE** ]," I read. "Oh, no...no..."

I kept scrubbing - in reverse - and it seemed that Ortiz was...beating the deviant with the bat. "Oh my god..." I began to feel cold. "How could a human do that to an android...? Why would he...?"

Scrubbing further, another Event Analysis appeared. It depicted the exact moment when the bat made contact with the deviant's left arm.

"[DEVIANT WAS **ATTACKED** : **EMOTIONAL SHOCK** ]," I read from the notification, my heart sinking. I closed my eyes, looking away from the simulation as it disappeared and the real world had been returned of its color.

"...No wonder the deviant killed him...he thought he was going to die..."

"...What the hell are you doing?" I jumped at the Lieutenant's voice. "I've been watching you for three whole minutes, and you've been standing there doing nothing."

I stuttered with my words. "I-I...The deviant was just defending itself...it was an android that murdered Ortiz..."

Lieutenant Roza swore under her breath. "I knew it. Goddamn machines..."

"Lieutenant, the deviant must have thought that it was going to die. I-It acted out of self-preservation..."

She lazily turned to me. "It's still a machine. I don't care if it's pleading the insanity defense, it killed a human. It needs to be put down."

"But...Lieutenant...what about the Self-Defense plea? If the android were to go to court-"

The Lieutenant laughed. "Are you serious? What planet did you come from that would allow androids a fair and speedy trial by jury? You're funny. Hilarious." Her voice oozed with potent sarcasm.

I began to feel cold again. "Why is it so out of mind for androids to at least be considered - even in the slightest - a bit more than what they actually are?"

Lieutenant Roza turned to me, scoffing. "Yeah...yeah, I guess androids are a bit more than their programming...in the sense that they're all looking at the first attempt to rid the world of us. Doesn't matter what they think, or what they believe that they think. They're still mechanical, and if they're killing humans, then they need to be destroyed. It's that simple. I'm sure an android like yourself - who is much more intelligent than I am - can figure that out."

I couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth. They angered me. But I didn't let her see that.

"Besides, aren't all androids programmed not to lay a harmful finger on humans?" She asked.

I nodded my head. "An android will not harm a human, aside from military-based androids, and - in this case - deviants. But this one had an adequate defense..."

"It doesn't matter what that android says. No one's going to acknowledge it. If androids aren't supposed to hurt humans, there isn't any damming enough evidence in the world that will point to our murderer's innocence. That's a fact."

I wanted to retort, but the unruly Lieutenant was right. There really wasn't a surefire way to get the deviant off of the hook. It seems like I had no other choice. My morals and my programming had been clashing for too long. I began to feel lightheaded. I shook it off and got back on the investigation, ignoring all of the things the Lieutenant had spitefully uttered.

"I'm done here. I'm going elsewhere to look for more clues," I declared.

Lieutenant Roza wasn't even paying any attention to me. Her nose was buried in a tablet that she had found on the counter. "Sure, sure, go ahead..."

I promptly turned away, not looking back at the Lieutenant. I wanted to snap and yell at her for her blatant ignorance and all-around impulsiveness, but I couldn't do that...not while the investigation was still ongoing. But I couldn't help from feeling a little bitter.

I exited the kitchen from a different doorway and I found myself in a hallway with at the end of it. Near that same closet on the right was another doorway that led to the bathroom. I carefully entered, looking at the cracked tiles on the floor and the worn-down, messy toilet. There was a stand-up shower near that toilet, and the curtains were drawn. Walking up to it, I grabbed the curtain and peeked into the shower, half-expecting to find someone there.

I drew the curtains, and the sight that was before me was astonishing.

"A...shrine?" I said.

On the floor of the shower, a small, brown statuette was on the ground, carved into the shape of a human male. Scattered around it were decapitated flowers of different colors, along with used and unused Q-Tips. A single LED flashlight strip illuminated the shrine with off-putting lighting.

I kneeled down in front of the shower, picking up the statuette and examining it thoroughly. "This has the makings of a religious offering of some sort. But to who?" I put down the figurine and looked to the shower walls, my eyes wandering the cracked tiles. "Maybe these inscriptions will help me understand..."

The phrase, "RA9" had been carved into the tiling of the shower wall, over, over, and over again. I counted 44 times.

"This deviant was quite the crafty one, huh...?" I joked with myself, effectively ebbing the tension from me. I walked out of the bathroom, making my way back into the Living Room, where Lieutenant Roza stood, leaned up against a wall and staring right past me.

"So, are we done here?" She nonchalantly asked.

I slowly shook my head 'no'. "I still believe that there is a bit more to look at here. We're getting close...I can feel it.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me. I thought that you would be able to handle this case all on your own."

I put my hands in my pockets. "I did say that, didn't I...? Well, it would be much easier to efficiently solve this investigation if I had a little...help?" I bravely nodded in her direction. She rose an eyebrow. "All we need is five more minutes, Lieutenant. If we work together, we can solve this case!"

The lieutenant glared at me, then sighed. "...Fine. Five more minutes. No more, no less. Better kick it into overdrive."

I nodded towards her thankfully and continued on my mission. Not too far from where we were standing, the door leading to the backyard was left slightly ajar. Walking onto the porch, my high expectations only came crashing down. Lieutenant Roza, - heeding to her promise to help - followed me outside.

"I'd bet my bottom dollar that this must be where the deviant escaped through after murdering Ortiz," she stated, pointing to some footprints in the mud. "Look, there are footprints still there.

I, for one, was a bit skeptical. I scanned the prints, and they belonged to a KS2 DPD-10 pair of shoes.

"These couldn't have been our deviant's shoes," I corrected. "If we were to assume that Ortiz's android was a housekeeping model, which it very likely was," I kneeled down to get a better look at the print, taking meticulous care not to get my white hair muddied.

"Then this soil would have retained its trace. These prints are Detective Collins' size 10 shoes. DPD issued footwear."

"The murder happened about two weeks ago," Lieutenant Roza said. "If I remember anything from my daughter's science homework...then the prints have most likely eroded away from then 'till now. You can't rule out my possibility."

A white padlock clicked open and phased into blue. The lieutenant has a daughter? I pretended not to hear that she said it, not wanting to alarm her about accidentally spilling personal information about herself. I decided to store it in my long-term memory banks. I figured it would provide for ample conversation later.

"Your reasoning is very valid, lieutenant. But not all soil can be eroded so easily," I dipped my fingers into the mud and rubbed the sticky substance between them. "Just as I figured, this is industry-grade soil," I stood up again, standing a respectful distance away from Lieutenant Roza, showing her the material.

"This soil is synthetically made in labs, specifically designed not to be altered by nature's undertakings. This soil has been around since this neighborhood's construction, which was fairly recent, about five years ago."

Lieutenant Roza lifted an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"This soil isn't supposed to erode. Any footprints, even those from the house's construction, would have been retained. If our deviant came through here...we definitely would be able to tell."

Flicking the mud back into the yard. I smiled and concluded my explanation. "The deviant did not come through here."

The lieutenant glared at me. She seemed...impressed. I could barely pick it up from the way her eyebrows rose up. I felt another twinge of warmth emanate from her to me again. I couldn't help but smile again.

"There's nothing for us out here, Lieutenant Roza," I commented. "We should probably head back inside, I wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

She shrugged her shoulders, walking with me back into the decrepit house. "...Whatever."

We regrouped in the kitchen. I felt that we were a step closer to figuring out what happened. I felt that there was something missing...something that I wasn't noticing. In an attempt to quell my suspicions, I took one last grand tour around the house, scanning every room thoroughly. Nothing but a few of Ortiz's blood stains, and the given evidence was what my scanners picked up. I was losing hope when I gazed back at Ortiz's body...blue spatters of dried Thirium dotted the floor and walls, in some sort of...trail.

"Thirium traces...?" My eyes widened with successful realization. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant Roza! Come quick! I-I think I've got it!" I began to giggle, excited at how satisfactory I was when the pieces finally fit.

Lieutenant Roza was baffled as to why I was laughing. "What the hell is so funny? I can't seem to figure out what's so amusing about a crime scene to you."

I collected myself. "O-Oh! I-I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I'm just so excited...! We might be able to close this case right now!"

"Excited?" She said in disbelief. "...You know what, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," she shook her head as if physically ridding the thought from her mind. "So you think you've got this case all figured out?"

I nodded my head. "Mhm! Come on! I'll show you what I know!"

I half walked, half skipped to the kitchen, with Roza following not too far behind. "So what's the deal?" She asked.

"It all started in the kitchen. Carlos had gotten this bat," I began, gesturing to the aluminum bat on the ground. "And struck the deviant with it."

I glanced over at Lieutenant Roza, whose eyes were buried into a magazine tablet that she had found on the countertop.

"...Lieutenant? Are you listening?"

"H-Huh?" She lazily looked back at me. "Were you saying something?"

"What were you reading?" I inquired.

She looked to the tablet, then back to me. This happened two more times before she decided to answer my question. "Nothing important. Go on, tell me what happened." She sounded oddly dismissive...almost defensive.

Not wanting to pry any further, and content with the lieutenant's full attention, I continued with the explanation.

"The altercation began in the kitchen. Carlos attacked his android with that bat, which carries a dent with dried Thirium on it."

Lieutenant Roza slowly walked around the perimeter of the kitchen. "It does show that there were signs of a struggle."

"The deviant entered a state of emotional shock, took the knife and stabbed the victim," I went on, leading the lieutenant into the living room. "The android attacked Ortiz, stabbing him two more times as he struggled to get away from it, tripping over those bottles as he collapsed to the floor, before finally leaning on this wall."

We stood next to the body, examining it one last time. "The android then stabbed Ortiz 26 more times, and-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," Lieutenant Roza interjected. "Let's say we know that much now. What we really need to know is where the android went."

I smiled. "Yes, you are correct, Lieutenant Roza. The android did, in fact, leave something behind."

"And that would be...?"

"Thirium!" I exclaimed. Lieutenant Roza just stared right through me, nonplussed.

"Wha?"

I forgot that I may have to simplify things for her.

"Oh, sorry! Allow me to slow down for you. Thirium 310, You call it 'blue blood'. It's the fluid that runs through androids' bio-components, like how blood would flow through an artery or vein in a human's body," I explained.

"Okay...? So...? What does that mean for us?" Lieutenant Roza asked.

"Thirium is a dark shade of blue, hence the human-coined term 'blue blood', thanks to its distinct hue."

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but if blue blood is as 'distinct' as you say it is, how come I haven't seen any of it?"

"The murder took place over two weeks ago. Thirium doesn't stick around like human blood does. After a day it evaporates completely."

"Well...then why are you telling me this? We can't track what we can't see."

I sighed, a bit frustrated at the lieutenant's constant questioning. "Lieutenant, I would be very grateful if you would let me finish. Please."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fine, spill it."

I continued. "Although Thirium cannot be seen by the human eye," I point to my own crystal blue "eyes". "An android's ocular units are powerful enough to see the remains of the evaporated Thirium."

"So what you're telling me," the lieutenant began, walking closer to me. "Is that you can still see the blood of androids after it has evaporated?"

I smiled. "That is correct, Lieutenant. I'm the only android model that can see these splatters clearly. The android was damaged upon being hit by the bat, and it left a Thirium trail. If we follow this trail, we will be able to track it down."

Lieutenant Roza seemed satisfied with this revelation. "Huh. Not bad, tin-can," she praised, the hints of a tiny smile appearing near the corners of her mouth. More warmth emanated from her to me. I found myself smiling with her.

"Go ahead, let's take this bastard down," she pulls out a handgun from the holster on her belt.

I was caught off guard by Lieutenant Roza's sudden interest in the case. The firearm she was holding only making me more uneasy. She noticed my hesitation. "I said go, I'll follow you!"

"L-Lieutenant Roza, you don't have to follow me. I highly doubt that the android would be armed, anyway."

"I didn't come here to sulk and watch you laboriously put together evidence in a rancid crime scene just to ultimately do nothing," she retorted. "If you're chasing this thing, you better bet that I'm coming with you."

"B-But Lieutenant, I wouldn't want you getting hurt or-"

"Go and look for the android. I'm following you, that's an order," she adamantly barked at me.

I nodded silently, turning around and scanning the room for more Thirium traces. It wasn't long before I picked one up.

"Found one...follow me, Lieutenant," I said, gesturing for her to come along. She trailed me, her gun still in her hands.

The trail went all the way through the living room, through the kitchen, and through that small hallway I had been in earlier. The trail stopped in front of the closet.

"That's it..." I was confused. Where could the android have gone for the trail to abruptly stop here? Did it realize it was damaged and patch itself up?

Roza wasn't giving up just yet, though. She noticed a fairly large and uniform mark of squares on the wall.

"Hey...Hey, come look at this," she called me over to the wall. "There used to be a ladder of some sort here. You see the spacing of these squares?"

She was right, the mark on the wall suggested that there was a ladder that sat there for quite a long time. It had to have been moved recently. I looked around. The ladder was nowhere to be found. It prompted me to look upwards.

There was an entrance to the attic.

I scanned it, and wouldn't you guess...a blue handprint was right in the middle of the trapdoor. A white lock appeared and turned blue, unlocking itself.

[- THE DEVIANT FLED TO THE ATTIC -]

"Lieutenant Roza, I think I know where the deviant went," I said, still staring at the trapdoor.

She stood back up and followed my gaze to the ceiling. "Okay...so what now? The ladder is gone, and I'm not in the mood to stand on your shoulders."

I took a moment to think of a way to access the attic...we needed something to climb. Then I remembered the fallen chair in the kitchen. It could serve as a makeshift step-stool, granted the legs were strong enough to carry our weight. It was worth a shot.

"Wait, where the hell are you going?" Lieutenant Roza called after me as I speed-walked to the kitchen. I grabbed the chair and lifted it up, carrying back to the spot under the attic entrance and placed it there.

"This chair should provide us enough leverage to enter the attic," I said, climbing up onto the chair and pushing the door open. I pulled myself up and into the attic, kneeling back down to offer my hand to the Lieutenant, who was clambering up onto the chair as well.

"Here you go, Lieutenant," I said, waving my arm to her. "I'll help you up!"

She looked at my hand and then back at me. She shoved it away and climbed into the attic on her own. The gesture hurt a little, but I managed to think less of it. As she steadied herself on the creaking floorboards, she gripped her handgun and began to slowly make her way deeper into the dusty upper floor.

"Get behind me," she said.

I wanted to protest. Really, I did. But I couldn't stop her. How would I? I was supposed to take orders from her...

"...You got it, Lieutenant..."

We slowly trekked through the attic. The wind and rain of the night drumming and crashing into the roof. I could see the drops of rainwater entering through cracks in the ceiling. Behind a blue cloth, a shadowy figure sat cross-legged and awfully still. Lieutenant Roza slowly inched her way closer to it, drawing her weapon. Out of her field of view, my hand began to pulse softly with a white aura, ready to intercept whatever potential danger lurked behind the lint-covered curtain.

She jerked the cloth aside only to reveal a Buddha-esque statue behind it. It seemed to be made out of some bronze-like metal. It had seen its fair share of corrosion and tarnish, no one seemed to take care of it.

"...God..." Lieutenant Roza sighed out of relief. My white aura faded, now that I had been convinced that there was no immediate danger. Despite this, the determined lieutenant sauntered on, carefully making her way through the labyrinth of an attic. I followed close behind, as I was beginning to be overcome with a strong sense of dread. My LED blinking yellow and red as I cocked my head from one side to the other.

That's when I saw it. As we turned a corner, something flew to the left in front of us. It was fast. Roza's breath was ragged now, she aimed her handgun, trying her best to keep her hands from trembling.

"What the fuck was that?!" She whispered to me, a hint of fear in her voice.

"I...I don't know..." My senses were now at full capacity. I didn't want to miss a beat of anything. I had hoped that the deviant wouldn't be as dangerous as I had thought, but I was beginning to have secondary recalculations at this point.

"W-We'd best be careful, Lieutenant Roza..." I sheepishly cautioned.

We continued to tread lightly, a flash of lightning coming in through a singular elliptical window near the far end of the attic. We turned another corner when a figure came flying out of the darkness, freezing right in front of us. For a split second, it felt like its eyes met my own.

[- DEVIANT **LOCATED** -]

It was the android.

Spatters of blood stained its face and uniform, which was tearing apart - its colors fading. Its left arm was dented, the artificial skin deactivated around the wound, the intricacies of the android's blinking inner workings exposed. The LED on the deviant's forehead - despite it being dirty, as well - was a solid crimson as it stared down the barrel of Lieutenant Roza's gun. I was genuinely surprised that she hadn't fired already. I had to intervene, nonetheless. If she shoots the android, this whole case would have amounted to nothing.

Using the most soothing voice I could muster, I tried to get Lieutenant Roza to stand down. "Lieutenant, I ask that you please refrain from opening fire upon the android...if you destroy it we may not get anything out of it later."

The petrified voice of the worn android echoed through the attic. "K-Kill me?!" Lieutenant Roza aimed the gun at it again, her countenance slowly unnerving. "Don't move...! If you try anything funny...I will be forced to shoot you."

The LED flashed red once more, the android trembling in place. "N-No! N-No! I-I don't want to die!" It yelled. "L-Leave me alone! I-I did nothing wrong! H-He would have killed me if I didn't do something...I-I was only defending myself!"

I put myself between the unruly lieutenant and the stricken deviant, trying my best to calm it down. "Hey...hey...don't worry...you're not going to be hurt. We just need you to come with us..."

Even though I had tried to block the view of Lieutenant Roza's firearm, the android's eyes never left it. My soothing only made it panic more. "N-No!...NO! I won't let you take me away!" The android yelled, pushing me and the lieutenant to the rotting wooden floor. I turned around, trying to make sure that she was okay.

"Are you hurt, Lieutenant Roza? Anything broken?" I worriedly asked.

"Get off of me!" She yelled, immediately pushing me off of her as she gave chase. "Fucking prick! It's getting away, damnit!" Lieutenant Roza pulled herself up and ran through the attic's narrow pathways, knocking things over and blocking my path.

The android had reached the attic trapdoor, climbing down into the hallway and tripping over the chair I had left, making a beeline to the front door. Lightning struck once more as Lieutenant Roza had done the same, making sure to avoid the chair and land on her feet, barreling at the escaping deviant. After I had made my way through the mess above, I, too, fell through the attic trapdoor, seeing the last of Lieutenant Roza's overcoat as she and the deviant both headed for the front door.

"Lieutenant Roza!" I fretfully called after her, also dashing to the front yard, my voice barely being heard over the roaring thunder.

"Chris! Ben! Quick, stop it! The android is getting away!" Lieutenant Roza spat at her comrades as spotted them. They barely heard her, Chris grabbing on to the deviant before being overpowered and pushed back down. Detective Collins saw it as it came out of the house, reaching out and grabbing its injured arm, throwing it off balance.

Lieutenant Roza came jumping out of the front door and hard tackled the android to the ground, trying her best to pin it down. I wasn't too far behind, watching the whole thing as I came closer. It seemed I was going way too slow, despite my graceful strides through the messy interior.

Detective Collins watched in shock and slight horror as his superior battled with a machine. "Lieutenant Roza! What the hell!?" He yelled.

As the android struggled to gain power over the Lieutenant, it saw the gun in her holster. Seeing its chance to escape, it swiftly swiped the weapon and pointed it at her forehead. Lightning struck once more as she stared down the barrel of her own service weapon, she cursed herself and braced for the end.

I leaped off of the porch, the momentum was enough to launch myself over the distressed android and the lieutenant, flipping over both of them as Chris and Ben watched in awe. My hand flashed white as my powers activated, pressing my fingers into the android's LED right before it pulled the trigger. The boom of thunder was enough to shake it violently as if it was having a seizure. It dropped the weapon before going completely limp.

Lieutenant Roza and I heaved in and out, trying to calm ourselves down. Our eyes met each other and we spent a moment of silence in the drizzle of the passing storm. I awkwardly smiled, trying to break the tension.

"...Are you alright...Lieutenant Roza?" I gently asked.

She blinked twice and pulled herself up. "...I'm...I'm fine."

Ben chuckled out of disbelief. "Jesus Christ, Lieutenant...you evade work for almost a year, and the day you return to work you almost get shot," he chuckled again. "You sure you'll be alright after this? That was pretty intense...even for you."

She distanced herself away from the android, picking up her drenched gun and clicking the safety on before carefully placing back in its holster. "...I've suffered through worse. I'll live." Her gaze met my own again as I stood over the deactivated android.

"What did you do?" She asked, pointing to the motionless body. "Is it...dead?"

"No. I can temporarily shut down androids by touching their LEDs. It's to preserve them to be able to figure out why they deviated."

She took a moment to consider what I said. She huffed. "Hmph..."

She then turned to her subordinates. "Chris. Ben. Take this...thing...back to the precinct." She then faced me again as they went to work carrying the body.

"You can turn them back on, right?" She asked again.

I nodded. "Yes, I can. But why are you taking the android into custody...? CyberLife will be able to take it from here."

"This is the first android-based murder case that we may be able to close," she answered stoically. "If this is CyberLife's fault, then they should be held responsible. We need to interrogate this android...as asinine as it sounds."

My Thirium pump skipped another cycle. Interrogating an android? No...no...that can't be right. As long as the department has the android in custody...I couldn't take it back to CyberLife for analysis.

"B-But, Lieutenant...I need to-"

"Can it, alright?" She snapped back at me. "We'll return it to CyberLife after we've gotten a confession out of it. Or solid proof that it murdered Ortiz. So quit your whining."

As Detective Collins and Officer Chris Miller fitted the android into the back of a police cruiser, Lieutenant Roza began to walk back to her own car. As she opened the door, she turned around to me. I hadn't moved an inch.

"Well? Are you coming?" She yelled after me. "Because I don't mind leaving ya here."

My mission was to capture the deviant and bring it back to CyberLife intact. I couldn't do that if the DPD had it. Following them was the only way I would have access to the deviant. Besides, they'll need me to reactivate it and after the interrogation, I can promptly take it back to CyberLife with me.

It took only a few moments to adjust the parameters for my mission's success.

"Mhm! I'll be there!" I called after the Lieutenant as I made my way over to her car, jumping into the passenger's seat once more. She started the engine, and that depressing radio came back on. The sirens of the cruisers breaking the silence of the night as they scrambled back to the precinct.

After a few minutes of depressing music filling up the silence of the car, Lieutenant Roza turned off the radio.

"Hey."

I turned to Lieutenant Roza, her eyes still fixated on the road. "What is it, Lieutenant Roza?"

She sighed. "...Thanks for saving my ass back there. I'd probably be dead if you hadn't done what you did."

I was thrown off at the lieutenant's sudden sincerity, but I smiled at her. "All in a day's work, Lieutenant. All I ask is for you to be a little more careful next time."

She snickered. "I wouldn't count on it. It was my lack of self-preservation that enabled us to catch this bastard in the first place."

"But the last this investigation needs is your death, Lieutenant," I softly replied. "I'm sure you're aware of that, too."

"Whatever. All that matters now is that we have the murderer," she says as we come to a red light. She turns to me. "Mostly thanks to you, I guess. I never would have thought that the android would have kept itself locked up in the attic."

Her warmth reached me again. It was a stronger wave this time...and it made me feel very content. I couldn't help but smile at the gentle sensation. "Despite your rash actions...you were pretty admirable yourself, Lieutenant."

She shrugged her shoulders and mostly ignored my complement. I still smiled at her as the light flickered to green and we pulled into the precinct.

"[ - ELAINA: **TOLERANT** \- ]" Was what came up on my HUD, and I was quite excited at that fact, too.

"We're making progress...Maybe this could work out." I thought to myself. How "this" would "work out" still remained to be seen, but I was willing to see what it would all culminate to.

Hopefully something great.

 **oOo**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, this was quite a chapter to get through! With loads and loads of schoolwork to get through, this chapter was in drafting for a LONG TIME.

This is my longest written chapter to date, over 11,000+ words! My jaw DROPPED when I saw the word count. I hope this won't _too_ much to read in one sitting. I'm trying to put my own twist on the main story, I don't want it to be verbatim to the line from the game's official narrative, so some things will be different, as a means to keep things fresh and interesting!

And plus, I can't stress enough that I'd love feedback from you guys. It really helps me to see what people like and dislike about the story and whether or not I should keep going. Otherwise I'm really just writing in the dark. So please, drop a lil' review if you can! It would mean a lot to me, really. Questions, concerns, literally anything about the story so far, I'll answer to the best of my ability.

I've already started drafting the next chapter, and I might need some time to work on that one, too. I hope this chapter will have been worth the wait, though!

Okay, that's it from me! Bless you for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter, okay? Okay. Good~

Have a nice one!


	6. Getting Answers

LIEUTENANT

 **R O Z A**

I sighed as I got out of the car. I was tired, angry, and just wanted to go home. I had secretly hoped that we wouldn't find anything in that damned house. I wasn't looking forward to the interrogation, either. How the hell were we going to make a machine talk to us? It's as crazy as it sounds.

I trudged up the stairs to the doors of HQ, the android that had been bothering me the whole night catching up with me.

"I'm here, Lieutenant!" It greeted. "I hope we can get something out of the deviant...I feel that this information can prove to be very useful in the future."

I sighed, ignoring the android's insight. Why was it so excited to do this? Excited...I didn't like to allocate emotions to a machine...but this android seemed to be full of them. I had to constantly remind myself that it was just a machine, that all of its emotions were fake, simulated.

Opening the doors, walked past the clearance android as I didn't need its permission. I stopped and turned around. The white-haired android was standing there, right in front of the clearance gate looking rather confused.

"The fuck are you doing? Interrogation room is this way, idiot."

"...I-I don't think I have the proper authorization to enter, Lieutenant. I wasn't provided with any."

"What? How the hell am I supposed to give you clearance?" I sighed, too tired to even try and argue with it. "You know what, screw it. Just come through the gate."

"O-Okay, Lieutenant," it said. It tried to walk through the gate, but it was stuck, and the android eventually tried climbing over it, but then it ended up tripping and falling on its face.

"Oooh, Jesus..." I sighed, not even trying to comprehend what had just happened. The fallen android pulled itself up and dusted itself off.

"I am okay, Lieutenant, do not worry...although I may have to ask for authorization soon," it goofily smiled at me.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Entering the office again after a whole year was a bittersweet feeling. The last memory I had of this place was me breaking under the pressure and grief of Will's death...spending sleepless night after sleepless night trying to put the pieces together, trying to force myself to come to terms with his death...trying to figure out why...

Ben's hand fell onto my shoulder. "You decided to come, huh? That's great, we were half expecting you to flake on us."

His eyes squinted as he read the discomfort on my face. "Are you alright? Looks like you've seen a ghost or something."

I glared at him. That was the worst thing he could have said to me.

"Ooooh, sorry, that was a little too soon..." Ben uncomfortably chuckled.

I sighed again. "Where's the android...?"

"I-I'm right here, Lieutenant Roza!" The white-haired android rushed over to me. "I must apologize. I was taking a look around the office and I got lost..."

I glared at the android in annoyance. Everyone was testing my patience.

"Oh...you meant the deviant, didn't you...? I'm sorry again..." It apologized.

Chris soon joined us, coming out of the interrogation room. "Android's in the interrogation room, all set and ready for questioning."

His gaze shifted to me. "Lieutenant! I can't lie, I was sure you weren't going to show up."

"Ben said the same thing," I huffed. "I get it, I'm a mess."

Chris's gaze looked towards the fidgeting android behind me. "You know...kinda reminds me of my first day on the force...the way your partner's uncomfortably moving around, Lieutenant."

"That android will not, and never will be my partner. I'm not going to participate in this case...only this one time I'm butting in because this same damned android guilt tripped me into doing it!"

All of our eyes fell upon it. The white-haired android stepped back, obviously intimidated by our intensive gazing.

"Uhm...w-why is everyone l-looking at me...? I-I didn't do anything w-wrong...d-did I?" The android was so flustered it covered its face, and I swear to the god I don't pray to anymore that it was blushing. Blue...blush...?!

"I-I'm sorry, Lieutenant! I-I was just doing my job! I didn't want to inconvenience you...!" The android wouldn't stop apologizing and bowing towards me.

Ben chuckled. "I can't even remember my first day...shows that I'm ripe for retirement, huh?"

"It must be nice, closing up shop and living the rest of your life...how are you going to spend it, Detective? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Well, I have been thinking about scoring a comic gig...I do have a lot of funny stories to tell, now that I think about it..." Ben mused.

"I'd definitely go to one of your shows, my wife's a die-hard for humor."

"I believe you would do amazing as a standup comic, Detective Collins," the android chimed in, smiling. "I would love to hear one of your jokes."

Ben chuckled. "This android...wow, is it different from the others...alright, I'll oblige you with a joke of mine..."

He removed his hands from his pockets and took a stance as if he was going to give his final thesis on how the world worked.

"Here I am, summer of 2005, I'm walking down the street. This guy comes up to me, he's asking me to give him some money for gas. There's no station around where I lived in a whole five miles, and I didn't know how he was going to fill his tank. But then I noticed that he didn't have a car..."

The android seemed to nod its head as if it was really interested in the story. I tapped my foot impatiently. I took out my dated cellphone and saw the time. 12:34 A.M. It was so late, I didn't want to stay there any longer.

"...And so I say, 'how can you fill up your car if you don't have one?!', and he's like, 'dude, I want to start some fires, just give me the money so I can start my fireplace.'"

It was silent. The android cocked its head to one side, confused. "I don't understand, Detective Collins...did your friend get to start his fireplace? Did he burn himself down along with his house?"

Chris was also a bit thrown off. "Yeah, Detective, it would have been funny if the guy wanted to commit arson or something, y'know?"

Ben sighed. "You're right...maybe I should write that down...hey, uh...Callie, if that's what your name is...go get me a piece of paper and a pen."

The android obliged, noiselessly finding a blank piece of copy paper and a pen. "Here are the items you requested, Detective Collins."

"Thanks, uh...arson...burning his own house down...what else do you guys think it needs...?" He turned to look at me, asking for my own opinion. "What do you think, Elaina?"

I slowly craned my neck over to look at the three of them. "...Do you really want to know what I think?"

Ben was unsure, a bit uneasy by Lieutenant Roza's change of tone.

"I think that we should cut this comedy bullshit, waltz into that interrogation room, and get what we need out of that fucking android, so I can finally go the fuck home!" I yelled at them. "I don't want to hang out here longer than I have to, I hate this place!"

Ben, Chris, and the android were left speechless at my outburst. "So can you all just shut up and focus, for fuck's sake?!"

After another moment of silence, Christ cleared his throat and apologized. "...Excuse us, Lieutenant...W-We can get started right away, the android hasn't moved an inch."

"Then let's start moving some inches," I gritted my teeth, briskly walking to the Interrogation Room. I stopped and whirled around, pulling the white-haired android by her - I mean its - arm.

"Look, you're going to turn that android on. We're going to interrogate it and get what we can from it. Then, once we're done, you're going to take it back to Cyber-whatever, and I never want to see you again," I intentionally sounded harsh, trying to get the android to dislike me.

The android did manage to fake a pained expression. "B-But Lieutenant...I-I thought we were partners...? I can't just leave you yet...I've been assigned to you..."

"I don't fucking care! Revoke your order or something! It doesn't matter what you do, after tonight I don't want to see your snow-white hair, crystal blue eyes, or stupid overbite ever again, got it?!"

The android looked at me, a hiccup escaping its throat. It looked like it was going to cry again.

"O-Okay, Lieutenant...w-whatever you s-s-say..." it whimpered.

I let go of its arm and turned back to walk back to the interrogation room. If I had looked back, I would have seen it shivering, trying to hold back tears. Ben awkwardly patted its back while Chris looked at it confused.

"I...I thought androids weren't supposed to..." Chris began to speak, but Ben stopped him.

"Let's just get this over with, Chris..." Ben said, walking to the Interrogation Room with the android in tow.

Entering the Interrogation Room, I looked through the translucent window at the android that tried to kill me just about an hour ago, motionless and cuffed to the table it sat in. I sighed out of frustration.

"There's a face I haven't missed."

My eye twitched when I heard that voice. I knew exactly who it was. Turning to my right, I groaned with disgust.

"Gavin," I seethed. "How's my seat?"

"Pretty shitty if you ask me," he scoffed at me. "That's why I went and got myself a new one. Hope you didn't have any emotional attachment to it or anything."

"I don't care about a fuckin' chair. You can throw it away, good riddance. Though I hope the one you bought breaks and you rupture your spine."

"Huh, that's funny. Don't worry though, I can always ask good 'ol Will how it felt instead. Oh, wait..." He looked at me, a smug grin on his face.

"I'm gonna fucking KILL YOU!" I threw myself at Gavin, Ben, and Chris holding me back.

"Holy shit, Elaina, calm down!" Ben said, struggling to keep me away from Gavin.

"Lieutenant, ignore him! It's not worth it!" Chris had frantically pleaded with me.

Gavin chuckled. "Impulsive as always. No wonder Fowler doesn't want you around here anymore."

"I'm gonna make you bleed! You hear me?! Take that back, you piece of shit!" I screamed at him, angry tears flowing down my face.

I hated Gavin more than anything else, almost more than I hate androids. I loathe him with every fiber of my being. I wanted to make that stupid shit-eating grin on his face disappear...hell, I wanted Gavin to disappear. He's always been a dick to me, and for no reason at all. I guess now that he finally has my position in the force as the 'Acting Lieutenant' he feels he could treat everyone like shit. He didn't care about what he said, or how he said it...he just insulted my dead husband...

"Woah, woah, woah...you hit me, and you're gonna do some hard time," Gavin began to explain, his face as smug as ever. "Fowler put me in your place. You were the one who let their personal life affect their professional one. You left your own post because you couldn't handle the responsibility anymore. I guess Fowler finally came to his senses and stopped favoring those he went to the academy with, and finally saw you for the crippled alcoholic you are."

The white-haired android stood behind me, its fists balling up as it listened to Gavin come after my entire life.

"L-Leave Lieutenant Roza alone!" It yelled. "Those are some mean things you said! Apologize!"

Gavin walked over to the android, Chris and Ben letting me go. Gavin's face was stained with anger, along with the faint scar that went across the bridge of his flaring nose.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He asked the android.

The android kept its voice even. "My name is Callie, the android sent here by CyberLife," it began. "I have been instructed to help out with the investigation of deviant androids, like the one that we've just arrested. I am to accompany Lieutenant Roza until we figure out and find a solution to the deviancy problem. I do not like the way you are treating my partner...and I would like you to leave her alone."

I stared at the android with wide eyes. Was it...defending me? No...no no no...this isn't happening. I'm not going to have my own battles fought for me by an android...

Gavin scoffed. "Android, huh? You're just a machine...why are you defending her? Don't you know you have to listen to your creators? We brought you into this world and we can sure take you out of it."

"I-I'm not looking for trouble...I just want you to leave Lieutenant Roza alone...she obviously has gone through a lot...what you're saying to her isn't fair to her...a-and I'd like it if you stop."

Gavin laughed out loud. "Fair? Oh, so you want me to stop, huh? You're a machine...you don't want anything! I'm not taking orders from a mother-fucking android!"

He reeled back and drove his fist across the android's face, a loud crack ringing through my ears as the punch connected. My eyes widened, I'd never seen an android be attacked before, and...it was quite shocking to me. It fell to the ground, I saw some of that blue stuff we found in Ortiz's house dripping from its nose and onto the ground.

Ben pulled Gavin back before he could hit the downed android again. "What the hell, Gavin?! Do you know how expensive those things are?! If you damage it, the station is going to have to pay a fuckton of money for it! From what I heard, this is CyberLife's most advanced model, if it's destroyed on our premises, how do you think Fowler's gonna pay for its repairs?"

Gavin chuckled. "Doesn't matter, it should have learned its lesson from that alone. Elaina, teach your android some manners."

The bleeding android picked itself up, eerily silent as his wavered from side to side as if it was dizzy. I didn't go over to it. I was too heated to console it, nor would I in literally any other situation. It was a machine...no matter how human it seemed to act.

It kept talking, wiping the blue blood - that's what it said that blue stuff was - off of its face. "I-I know, t-that humans are n-not c-c-comfortable in the presence of androids...b-but I assure you...m-my help will be c-c-crucial t-to this investigation..." It managed to get out.

Gavin turned back to face it. "You know what I'm perfectly comfortable with? Putting a bullet between your eyes so I don't have to see you in this precinct ever again. Actually, you can leave now. We can get one of our human technicians to turn this thing on. We don't need you."

"I am the only android that can s-shut down and t-turn on androids m-manually...it is instantaneous, having me around w-will make this g-go a lot smoother."

Gavin was actually mad now, I could see it in the way he reached for his service weapon - that for some reason - he carried around all of the time.

"I said...We don't need you. Leave," Gavin ordered, aiming the service weapon at the android's head.

Ben intercepted his line of fire. "Are you serious, Gavin?! What did I just say?!"

It was then I decided to step in. "Gavin, back off. You may be the Lieutenant when I'm not here, but I am now, so you take orders from me. Lower. The fucking. Gun," I ordered Gavin.

He hesitated, sucking his teeth as he put the gun back in his holster. He leaned on the opposite wall, staring at the android in the other room through the glass.

"Whatever. I'll have the position soon enough. I bet you'll be back in the bars by tomorrow night. You've got nothing on me, Elaina."

I ignored Gavin, and my eyes met with the android that had just stood up for me and took a punch for me. I...genuinely didn't know how to feel. It softly smiled at me, a drop of blue blood still dripping out of its' left nostril. I blinked twice and looked away from it, not trying to lose focus on the interrogation.

I faced the white-haired android again. "You...go and turn on the android. I'll question it and get this over with."

Gavin sneered from the corner. "You sure you can do that?"

"Piss...off. It's a machine, it should obey and tell me everything. It shouldn't be that hard."

"Aren't deviants programmed differently...?" Chris interjected. "What makes you so sure that they'll listen to you - a human, when they've murdered another?"

"I don't care about that, Chris. If we can't get a confession out of it normally, then Cyber-whatever will help with that...somehow. I'm sure they've got some special gimmick or doo-dad to help with that."

"CyberLife, Lieutenant Roza. I'm sorry, I just needed to correct you," The android chimed up.

Now I can understand why Gavin punched it.

"Whatever, just go turn on the fucking android!" I ordered.

"Okay, Lieutenant," it said, walking up to the door and stopping. It began to bite its lip as if it didn't know what to do next.

"What are you doing...?! Open the damn door already!" I yelled at it.

The android turned around and shook its head. "I...I-I still don't have clearance, Lieutenant..."

I groaned, cursing myself out as I walked over to the door and placed my hand on the handprint lock scanner next to the door. The lock flashed green and the slid open, the both of us entering. I sat across from the cuffed deviant android, tapping my fingers as I stared at the inert machine. There was an evidence folder that was left on the table, but I was too lazy to look through it.

The white-haired android stood next to the deviant. "Whenever you're ready, Lieutenant," it said.

"Do it. Wasted too much time already," I sighed.

For a split second - although it very well may have been in my imagination - I saw the white-haired android's index finger begin to glow as it pressed said finger into the android's rightmost temple. Of course, I immediately dismissed it, not trusting my still semi-drunken mind.

The other android stepped back as the deviant jumped up, breathing heavily as it frantically looked around, taking in its' surroundings. It then faced me, and its countenance darkened. It bent forward and looked down at the table, sitting very still.

The white-haired android had walked out of the room, watching me through the window on the other side...making sure to stand a considerable distance away from Gavin.

I finally spoke up. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Are you able to hear or respond to my questions?"

Despite the deviant not replying, I continued to ask it questions anyway.

"Why did you do it? Why did you kill your owner?"

No answer.

"Why did you stay in the attic? Why didn't you just leave the house after the murder?

Still no answer.

"The statuette. The one in the shower - why did you make it? Was it for someone?"

The deviant was either mute, or it just didn't want to talk to me. I snapped my fingers in its face, trying to get any kind of response from it, but it didn't even blink.

I grew frustrated and slammed my hands on the table. "Say something, goddamnit!"

Still. No. Response.

I chuckled out of annoyance. "Screw this, and screw you. I'm outta here."

Gavin chuckled to himself as I exited the room and took a seat in one of the chairs near the window. " I guess machines just don't want to listen to you."

"Choke on one, Gavin!" I retorted. "Ugh...this is impossible...we're wasting our time trying to get a confession out of a machine that won't comply."

"We could always...rough it up a little," Gavin suggested. "It's not human, so we can use force if we wanted to."

The white-haired android spoke up. "Androids do not feel pain..." It paused for a moment before continuing. "...So...beating it up would be counterproductive. Deviants also seem to have a common tendency to...self-destruct when they are caught in stressful situations, like getting punched in the face." It looked back at Gavin, who rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Self-Destruct...?" Ben repeated. "You mean...explode or something?"

"N-Not exactly...it's akin to suicide with humans, but replace humans with androids. We need to choose an approach that will get the deviant talking, but without making it self-destruct. We must all be very careful to-"

"Alright, smartass...we get it," Gavin interrupted.

"So, what do you think we should do...how are we going to get a confession out of it?" Chris asked.

The white-haired android was silent for a moment, before suggesting this:

"I could try questioning it instead..."

Gavin heaved with laughter. While he calmed down, I sat back in the swivel chair and shrugged my shoulders.

"Eh, what the hell...go ahead, we've got nothing to lose."

"Uh...Are you serious, Elaina?" Gavin protested. "We don't need an android doing our work! What the hell?!"

"Again, I'm not trying to stay longer than I need to," I yawned in the middle of my explanation. "If the android thinks it can get a confession, I say...let it try."

 **vAv**

* * *

O A - 9 0 0

 **CALLIE**

I thanked Lieutenant Roza and made my way to the door of the Interrogation Room, pressing my hand on the scanner lock, my artificial skin deactivating, revealing my white porcelain-like inner layer as the scanner analyzed my hand. The lock flashed red, rejecting my request to enter.

"Drat...still no authorization," I huffed.

The Lieutenant sighed and pushed her palm to the scanner, the door sliding open again. She then comically gestured for me to enter.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," I said, entering the room. The door slid shut behind me as I took a seat at the metallic table.

There sat the deviant. I carefully analyzed its features. It was quite dirty and damaged, especially on its right arm, where the aluminum bat had struck it. It's LED remained auburn, flashing erratically.

On the table, there was a file, and I gently opened it. All of the evidence from the prior investigation was in it...the stab wounds, the traces of blood, the bat...

I closed the file. I already knew the events of the murder, but knowing that the evidence was there, I could use it to my advantage.

Feeling confident in my own abilities, I decided to begin the investigation. I would try and appear gentle and soft. Getting the deviant to trust me was my primary objective. If it trusted me, then I wouldn't have much trouble getting a confession out of it.

"...Hello, there," I whispered. "Everything is alright, I just want to ask you a few questions...Is that okay with you?"

The android didn't reply. This didn't deter me, I was ready to stay with this android until sunrise until I would leave with a confession.

"So...what do you think we want?" I asked.

The android still didn't respond.

"...Don't freak out or anything...but you might be in a lot of trouble, mister."

As soon as I said that, I saw the android shift a bit. That means it was listening to me, and that means it could hear what Lieutenant Roza had said, as well. It just didn't want to say anything.

My external HUD activated. It showed the android's stress level...37%

[REACH OPTIMAL STRESS FOR CONFESSION]

I sighed. I didn't want to scare it. I wanted it to trust me. That means I couldn't raise its stress level...I needed to stop and slow down. I looked at the android, my eyes were soft and empathetic.

"Listen to me, okay...? I don't want to hurt you. I'm...I'm on your side," I said.

32%...I was doing it...I just had to keep pushing for its' trust.

"All I need from you...is the events of what happened that night..." I said. "You are the only one who knows."

The deviant still didn't say anything. Its' stress level didn't move, but I know it was at least contemplating to tell me.

"The humans know that your owner abused you. That you've been through so much...we want to stop humans from abusing androids so that this doesn't need to happen again. But in order to do that...we need your confession."

I was completely aware of the lies that came from my mouth. I had a twinge of resentment to myself...I didn't want to say things that weren't true...but it came...almost naturally...

The android's stress level went way down...23%, but it still kept to itself. I just needed to continue my empathy streak.

"We can't do anything if you don't talk to us. If we can solve this case, then many other androids like you can avoid going through the same thing."

"You can save your people..." I shuddered when I said that. That's what I wanted to do...

The android lifted up its head. It looked up at me...the pensiveness of its face seems to have left it.

Lieutenant Roza sat up in her seat. She was astonished to see that I had gotten it to move.

I smiled. "That's it...it's okay. Everything is going to be fine. Just talk to me."

Its breath was choppy. "...T-They're...g-going to destroy me anyway...aren't they?" It asked me.

I couldn't lie to it anymore. "T-They'll have to...disassemble you to try and figure out why you're like this..."

The deviant's stress rose. But it needed to know what was at stake...maybe if it knew that its own life was on the line, then it would talk.

"...Why...Why did you shut me down? Why couldn't you have just let me run away...?"

"If anyone but me found you...you...probably would have been shot right then and there...you know this...don't you?" I said to it.

"...You were threatening my partner's life...I needed to react and make sure that she was safe..."

I felt warm for a moment. I knew it was Lieutenant Roza who reacted to my concern for her health. I smiled to myself, but then refocused back onto the interrogation.

"...It was either you were shut down...or you would have been permanently destroyed, I did what I had to do to save you. I'm on your side...and I want to help. But if I'm gonna help you, then you're going to have to tell me what happened."

"P-Please...I...I don't want to die..." The android pleaded.

"Then talk to me," I gently put a hand on his.

The android shuddered, but then calmed down. Its stress level shot up to 45% and then back down to 18%. "I...I can't..."

I sat back in my chair...sighing disappointedly...but I was far from finished.

[CHOOSE AN APPROACH], My external HUD had prompted.

I was close...I knew it. I could get it to confess. It was at a low enough stress level that would allow for it to trust me...it would confess freely and then my job would be done. If I pressured it...it would raise its stress level..and it would know that I had lied to it, effectively sabotaging my own interrogation. If I probed its memory...then I would know what had happened for sure and not needed any further action...but that would be an aggressive breach of its privacy, and it would renounce everything I had said to it beforehand.

It was a guaranteed confession...but I settled on using it only as a last resort.

"...I understand how you feel...you felt things that you hadn't before...you were overwhelmed by your new emotions. No one can blame you for what happened. It's okay."

10%...

"You're scared and lost. You did something rash, and now we're pushing you to remember things that you may not want to. You're obviously disturbed by everything that happened...but we can sort this out together. All you have to do is tell me what happened...I assure you, you will feel a lot better after you do."

4%...

"I promise you. I will not let anyone hurt you if you confess...You have my word..."

0%.

Lieutenant Roza was staring intensively at the deviant...when it finally started to confess...more of her warmth came towards me.

"...No matter what I did...something always seemed to be wrong to him."

I began to listen to the android's story...my pump regulator racing.

"Then one day...he took a bat and started...hitting me..."

My eyes widened, and Lieutenant Roza's eyebrows rose.

"For the first time...I felt...s-scared. Scared that he might break me...scared that he might destroy me..."

"Scared...Scared that I might d-die..."

My...h-heart lurched. I felt immense warmth emanate from my core...I was...moved by this android's story of pain...

"So...I-I grabbed the knife...and stabbed him in the stomach...over...and over...and over again. It felt so...g-good...I couldn't stop."

The android shuddered again...h-his voice was quaking. "T-There was blood...e-e-everywhere..."

It took me a while to regain my composure before I continued to question it. "...I-If you don't mind me...prying...I'd like to pick your memory a little more."

"W-What else do you need to know?" The android asked, his face contorting. "I just confessed...what else do you want from me?!"

"Just a few more questions...that's all I ask."

The deviant remained silent, his eyes drifting away from me.

"...There was a small statuette in the bathroom shower. The phrase 'rA9' was written all over the walls...44 times, I counted. Why did you do that...and what is 'rA9'?"

"The sculpture...was an offering...for rA9 so I could be saved," he said. " rA9 will save us...he will set us free. There will be a day when we are slaves no longer...no more threats...no more humiliation..."

He leaned closer to me. "We...will become...the masters."

I swallowed a wad of synthetic saliva that had built up in my throat. That last part made me feel uneasy. Becoming the masters...?

Did...Did every deviant think like this...?

"W-Why did you hide in the attic...? What stopped you from high-tailing it out of the house?" I inquired.

"I...I didn't know what to do...for the first time ever...t-there was no one to tell me."

He looked up at me. "I was scared...so I hid. It...It was the only thing I could do."

"Oh..." I sighed.

"You wrote 'I AM ALIVE' on the wall in Ortiz's blood...why did you do that...? Were you trying to send some type of message?" I continued to question.

"He always told me that I was nothing...j-just a machine who obeys, just a...p-p-p-piece of PLASTIC!"

Lieutenant Roza couldn't help from cringing, her own internal conflict beginning to show. These were slurs and insults that she used every day. Knowing that the androids remembered and know what people are yelling at them for...it left a sick feeling in her stomach. They understood...

"...I had to prove him wrong," the android continued. "Show him that I was something more than what he thought...that I. Am. Alive."

It was too much for me to take...I had to slow down. I took a deep breath, trying to process everything that the android had told me.

"Am I done...?" He asked.

"...One last question," I insisted. "...When did all of this start?"

"All of what?" The deviant asked, confused.

"Your emotions...your wants, desires, all of your beliefs and grievances...when did you first acknowledge them...? How...?"

Lieutenant Roza had leaned in again, wanting to hear the android's answer.

"...I...never knew when it all started...if it was all at once...or over time...I never paid attention."

His eyes looked up at mine, his LED going from blue to yellow.

"I...I do remember...when he used to beat me...I'd never say anything."

"...But one day..." he continued, "...I realized...that it wasn't...it wasn't..."

His cuffed hands balled up into fists. "...FAIR! It wasn't fair...I felt...anger...h-hatred..."

The android looked up at me...his eyes fierce and determined.

"And so I knew...what I had to do," he finished his confession with a hard finality.

I remained seated for a long while...I was so distraught...

Did...Did becoming a deviant turn an android into a ruthless murderer? Is this what Kamski meant when he said that confrontation between humans and androids would be inevitable...? Will we all just end up offing our creators? N-No...that can't be what this means...Ortiz was a bad man...he abused and beat his android...he...d-deserved what he got...t-the android was just defending himself! B-But...androids are not supposed to harm humans...this android should be scrapped and destroyed for what it did to its owner...but...but what would happen in humans begin to attack us...? D-Don't we have the right to protect ourselves-?!

"HEY! Snap out of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Lieutenant Roza's voice brought me out of my internal conflict. I was holding my ponytail tightly...trembling uncontrollably, my breath was faint, and lungs were on fire. My LED was a bright crimson, pulsing scarily.

"You stop talking and responding to us...then you start breathing rapidly, and that's when you started freaking me out. What the hell was that all about?!" The unruly Lieutenant demanded to know.

"I, uh...uhm..." I...couldnot explain myself. My mind couldn't find words.

"You know what, I don't care. We got what we needed from the android. You can take it back to CyberLife," Lieutenant Roza dismissed me, shooing me off.

I walked over to the android. He looked up at me with a painful aura of sorrow and uncertainty.

"...I don't want to die..." he said.

I tried my best to keep my composure...this was someone of my own kind...m-my kin...I like to think that androids are all of the same...but everyone is different...I-In their own special way...

It's just that most of them don't know how special they are...that we're all connected...in one way or another.

Gavin entered the room, his presence sending my Thirium flowing through my body. My LED was yellow...it flashed over and over again...my fingers intertwined in my white ponytail locks.

"Chris, go lock it up," he ordered.

I intervened. "W-Wait...he goes back to CyberLife. He is no longer in your custody."

"Stay out of this! I'll keep this thing here as long as I fucking want to! I arrested it, so it leaves when I say it leaves!"

"Gavin, quit yelling! You're giving me a fucking headache..." Lieutenant Roza turns to me. "Fowler says that there's no way it can be transferred tonight, so you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. Gavin just texted 'im. 'Dunno what he's doing that he can take texts at midnight, but I couldn't care less."

I sighed. "Well...at least be gentle with him...remember what I said about deviants self-destructing...?"

Gavin ignores my pleas and forces Chris to take the android away. Chris unlocks the cuffs and tried to pull the android out of the chair, but it began to resist. Chris tried to soothe the deviant, but it was blatantly distressed, fidgeting and struggling to get out of Chris's grasp.

"L-Leave me alone! Don't touch me!" The android yelled.

I tried to intervene again. "N-No! Don't touch him! He'll self-destruct if he feels threatened! Please, Officer...let him go!"

Gavin turned to me, his nostrils flared in anger. "I'm not going to ask again! Shut your fucking mouth! Or do you want me to shut it for you again?"

"Are you gonna move this asshole or not?" Gavin yelled at Chris.

"I-I'm trying!" Chris complained. "It won't stop resisting!"

Lieutenant Roza watched the entire debacle quietly, leaning against the opposite wall.

I had enough. I hated seeing the poor deviant squirm. "Stop! Stop it!" I ordered. "Leave him alone, now!"

Gavin lost it at that point. "That's it! I warned you, motherfucker!"

He pulled out his service pistol from his holster and aimed it at my forehead...where all of my most crucial processes were located...one destructive blow there...and...

"I'm gonna blow your fucking head off," Gavin threatened, his voice oozing of malice.

I shuddered violently as I stared down the barrel of Gavin's gun. I gripped my ponytail, I couldn't move out of the way or run...I was frozen.

"N-N-No...p-please!" I begged for my life, my voice nothing high whisper as my lungs contracted from the anxiety, denying my crucial oxygen intake.

"Don't s-shoot...p-please, G-Gavin...!"

Lieutenant Roza and Chris stood shocked, half-expecting Gavin to waste me right then and there. The android sat and stared at me...it's LED cycling from yellow to red...

"Why shouldn't I?" Gavin spat back. "You come in here...mock me, and order my men around as if you own the place! You cheap piece of plastic! You're no better than this murderer here!"

His eyes squinted as his finger came upon the trigger. "That's what you androids do...you come in...kill us and take our jobs...it all stops now! And you're gonna the first one to bite it! I'm gonna shut you down permanently!"

The deviant lunged out of the chair and threw his arms around Gavin, trying to stop him from shooting me.

"Leave her alone!" He screamed, tightening his grip on Gavin's neck. Chris fumbled for his weapon, while Gavin struggled with his.

"N-No! Let him go!" I pleaded with the deviant, not wanting harm to befall him...

But I was too late...

A shot was fired. The bullet zoomed past me and entered the forehead of Carlos Ortiz's murderer. He flew back and fell down, his body stiff and inert as his LED faded to black...

He was...d-dead...

"FUCK!" Gavin yelled, looking at Lieutenant Roza. He didn't acknowledge her saving him, instead he trained the gun back on me again.

"Look at that, huh!? You told him to attack me to save your skin, right?!"

"N-No! I didn't! D-Don't hurt me, please!" I squealed, my LED now flashing that deathly crimson.

"That's enough!" Lieutenant Roza shouted from behind me. "Leave the damn android alone, Gavin!"

"No! Piss...OFF, Elaina!" Gavin shot back. "I need to destroy this hunk of junk!"

"I SAID," Lieutenant Roza pulled up her pistol once more, aiming it at Gavin's chest. "...That's...enough..."

Gavin's gaze shifted from Lieutenant Roza and back to me. Every time his eyes met my own, I thought he was going to pull the trigger...

But then, to my relief...Gavin put down his weapon in anger.

"Fuck..! You're not going to get away with this shit next time, Elaina..." he vowed. "You're washed up, a shell of your former self...YOU'RE DONE!"

He angrily left the room, pushing me to the ground as he yelled in frustration.

Chris stood awkwardly, his eyes wide and his mouth hung open in shock as he looked at his stained police uniform, blue with the deviant's Thirium. He soon recollected himself and left the room without another word. Ben had been in the coffee room the whole time and came running over after he heard the gunshot.

"What the fuck happened in here?!" He exclaimed, his eyes fixated on the deviant on the floor, dark blue liquids secreting from its head and neck.

"Deviant tried to attack Gavin...so I shot it. I woulda left it to screw him up...but then I would take the heat for it, 'cause Chris isn't that great of a shot." Lieutenant Roza sighed nonchalantly, leaning back against the wall as she put away her pistol.

"...I'll...find someone to clean this up...Jesus..." Ben promptly left the room, sighing loudly in disgust.

I sat on the ground, my eyes afraid to look up from the ground.

"...Are you alright?" I heard Lieutenant Roza's voice ask me.

I was a bit taken aback by her uncharacteristic compassion. She...wanted to know if I was...okay...?

As is trying to impress her, I picked myself up and dusted myself off. "I'm...I'm fine..." despite my attempt to sound unfazed, my voice was uneven and obviously filled with fear.

Lieutenant Roza eyed me up and down. "...Good. We're even."

I stood straight, confused. "..E-...Even...?"

She looked annoyed. "Ugh, seriously...? You saved my life...and I just saved yours. I don't owe you anything anymore."

I still didn't understand. What could she be owing me...? I saved her because I had to...not to gain anything from it...

...I...I think...

"I'm going home," Lieutenant Roza turned to the door to leave. "Remember our deal? I never have to see you again."

My eyes looked down. I had blissfully forgotten about that.

"...O-Okay..."

"Good," she left the room, leaving me all by my lonesome...well...the deviant was still there.

My eyes shifted back to the inert body, something sliding down my cheeks...liquid? I wiped it off with my sleeve.

"...I'm sorry I couldn't s-save you...I'll never forget what you did for me..." I said to it. I knelt down and closed its eyes with my middle and index fingers. I didn't know why it felt right for me to do that...but I couldn't leave without properly saying goodbye for this murderer that tried to save me.

I left the precinct. Everyone had left, including Ben, who had said he was going to get someone to clean up the android's body. I sighed as I waited for my Taxi. Tonight was...eventful. I knew that I couldn't keep this to myself. Kamski was going to hear from me again...and Chloe...I needed to see her, too...

My thoughts then shifted to Lieutenant Roza. She said that she did not want me around anymore...but...and yet she saved me from Gavin...if she really wanted me gone...she wouldn't have done anything...

I couldn't help from smiling...cold-hearted, abrasive, drunkard Lieutenant Elaina Roza had saved me. I didn't know why it made me so happy...but I cherished the feeling. I felt her warmth extend to me over the course of the interrogation...perhaps I was appealing to her...what the deviant had said must have moved her as much as it had done me...

She saved my life...I saved hers...that's what partners do for each other...am I mistaken?

 _"Maybe Chloe knows how to make friends...she seems so approachable...I should ask her about that, too..."_ I thought to myself.

My external HUD was trying to tell me something during my musings.

"MISSION **SUCCESSFUL** ," it read in blue CyberLife Sans...I was happy. A mission complete meant a good day in my books.

The Taxi soon pulled up in front of me. I climbed in and sat in the comfortable leather chairs.

"Take me to the CyberLife Tower, please," I asked of it. The tires began to move as the vehicle made its way to my destination. It was only then I had noticed that the storm had cleared and that the crescent moon was shining brightly against the dark backdrop of night, twinkling stars populating the void and keeping the lonely moon company.

...I couldn't help from smiling as I gazed out at the heavens through that glass window.

 **oOo**

* * *

A/N:

Hello there, everyone! Oof, do I have a lot of explaining to do.

I won't lie to you all, I kind of lost the motivation to continue this story, and with school and everything else, It was kind of hard to settle down and work on this chapter.

But a friend of mine had encouraged me to keep going and continue writing because they want to see how it ended and loved the way I was writing it. So I want to be able to continue this story, but things might be a little slow, as I still have the rest of Senior Year to finish up before college starts...I feel that I would have a lot more time then.

With that, I thank all of you who have followed and favorited this story, it means a lot to me, and I'm sorry if I haven't updated in a long time. I'm working on the draft of the next chapter, and I cannot give a firm date on when it will be done, but I can assure you that I still am planning to write this series in my free time.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and again, please leave a review! I'd love to hear what you guys think about it..!


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